Environmental Monitoring

Drills and Exercises

Industry is required to exercise all facets of their OSCP over a three year period using the tactics, equipment and personnel cited in the plan. These are accomplished through notification, equipment deployment and tabletop exercises. In developing the drill scenarios, the operator must simulate environmental conditions in the area along with seasonal weather conditions that may exist. In Alaska these conditions could include high tidal changes, fast currents, and the presence of solid or broken ice in geographically remote locations.

Tabletop exercises test the ability of the Incident Management Team (IMT) to effectively initiate actions to adequately respond to a spill event. These drills require the IMT to establish priorities for spill response actions, order up personnel and equipment, establish equipment staging areas, arrange for billeting and transportation of response personnel, arrange for temporary storage and disposal of recovered oil and debris and initiate oil spill trajectory and tracking, wildlife hazing and capture, public information programs.

Equipment deployment exercises require the operator to deploy and operate each type of equipment staged at onshore locations and cited in their plan. These drills demonstrate industry response personnel’s ability to deploy and correctly operate the equipment.

Notification exercises test a company’s ability to quickly and efficiently inform key personnel about incidents that require immediate action. These exercises also demonstrate the company’s ability to notify the appropriate governmental agencies that a spill has occurred.

In the Alaska Region, these requirements are primarily accomplished through a joint mutual aid exercise. The Alaska Region participates in the annual North Slope operator mutual aid drill (MAD) to test offshore oil spill response capabilities. Oil and gas operators on the North Slope have established an agreement to provide personnel and equipment to support an emergency spill response in the event a member company experiences a significant release of oil to the environment. Each year one of the mutual aid member companies conducts a spill response exercise that requires activation of the mutual aid agreement. The annual MAD exercise tests the ability of the company to establish an incident cOEMMand center, activate the Unified COEMMand and mobilize personnel and equipment located across the North Slope to the “spill site” to begin oil recovery operations. All of these drills are evaluated using the National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program guidelines. If deficiencies are noted during these exercises, the Alaska Region will advise the operator of any needed changes in equipment, training or response tactics.