Coast Guard Participates in Oil Spill Cleanup Training in Charleston
In Charleston, South Carolina, an oil spill response training program is being held this week. An initiative of the Coast Guard, the program sees the involvement of partner agencies and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
Three-days of Intensive Training
The training exercises, which began on Tuesday, brought together the Charleston sector, NOAA, and industry representatives. These coastal authorities are learning shoreline cleanup and assessment techniques to aid in examining pollution-impacted beaches. The training utilizes both indoor classroom education and on-site response techniques, focusing on various shoreline categories such as sandy beaches.
Benefits of Training
In an interaction, Incident Management Division Chief Lt. Michael Allen revealed that such NOAA training programs are organized a few times annually and bring immense value to the Charleston sector. He explained, “Training like this is beneficial because it allows us to have the training necessary to do a response and assessment prior to actually needing to do it.”
“So you want to make sure that you have the training and people that are prepared to respond on scene to determine what’s happened, what could potential going to happen, what the impacts could potentially be so that we can have the teams ready to go to respond to deal with the assessment and mitigate the impacts of the environment,” Allen elaborated.
Allen stressed that the training enhances the acumen of active duty personnel about foreseeable challenges and plays a role in trimming response times for future pollution cleanups. Apart from local participants, Coast Guard members from Port Canaveral, Jacksonville and Massachusetts also joined in this exercise. He noted that such common exercises provide a networking platform for members for future incidents aiming at accomplishing the mission.
Riding on Experience
Jacksonville sector member Laila Robinson, expressing gratitude for the exercise, explained that being part of a large port city where oil spills and natural disasters like hurricanes are common occurrences, such trainings are immensely beneficial. She commented, “Whenever something happens it would be nice to have knowledgeable books, education to benefit my shop a little better.”
Reporting Oil Spills
Officials have noted that oil spills are more common than generally perceived. This underlines the importance of such training for faster response times. They are appealing to the public to promptly report any sightings of oil sheen to the National Response Center for a swift reaction.
Programs like these demonstrate the preparatory measures being taken by authorities to handle environmental disasters effectively. By empowering its personnel through training, the Coast Guard is showing its commitment towards protecting the environment and ensuring a swift response to oil spills.
