Roughly two dozen participants, including officials with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, gathered in Unalaska in late July for an oil spill response training.
The four-day training on Amaknak Island was organized by 1-Call Alaska, the oil spill response branch of the international salvage company Resolve Marine.
Pete Pritchard, operations manager for 1-Call Alaska, said preparation and training are essential for a successful response, especially in the region.
“Dutch Harbor is a sensitive fishery, and there’s a great volume of vessels and fuel that come through here,” Pritchard said. “There’s a potential for a spill event, and we want to be ready for that.”
During the exercise, participants simulated the response to an active oil spill and learned how to operate and move an oil skimmer, which is a large device used to pull oil from the water’s surface.
Two small Resolve Marine skiffs secured a containment boom to the dock while crews practiced deploying the skimmer, connecting hoses and operating pumps as if responding to a real spill.
Pritchard said the goal was to coordinate response teams ahead of time so they can respond quickly and effectively if an incident occurs.
In addition to the on-water exercises, participants completed an eight-hour hazardous waste operations course and a U.S. Department of Agriculture bird hazing course — training that teaches how to deter birds from contaminated areas — both of which provided official certifications.
