Coast Guard Sector Anchorage personnel along with federal, state, local, tribal partners and industry representatives conducted mutual aid drills in Anchorage and Deadhorse, Wednesday.
During the drill, participants tested their ability to establish a Unified Command, implement the North Slope Mutual Aid Agreement and deploy equipment in response to a simulated oil spill at the remote Nikaitchuq Project at Spy Island near Deadhorse.
“Drills like this are important because they provide Coast Guard personnel with the opportunity to work with our agency partners and industry representatives to test our combined ability to respond to an oil spill in the Arctic,” said Cmdr. Shane Montoya, deputy commander, Sector Anchorage. “The training and experience provided by these exercises will prove invaluable as Arctic waters become more open to commerce and the potential for a major maritime emergency increases.”
Agencies that participated in the drill include the Coast Guard, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Alaska Department of Fish and Wildlife, North Slope Borough, Eni US Operating Co., Inc., Alaska Clean Seas, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, National Marine Fisheries Service, British Petroleum, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc., Pioneer Natural Resources Company, Royal Dutch Shell plc, Savant Alaska, LLC and Respol Energy North America Coporation.