Airmen, Portuguese officials hone fuel spill response skills

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Olufemi Owolabi
  • 65th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
LAJES FIELD, Azores (AFNS) --  At the aftermath of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Airmen geared up and prepared for future challenges that could occur at the coastal and ship docking area here during a week-long joint fuel spill response training exercise from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1 here.

Due to the potential of oil slicks to quickly spread and affect both the marine and land habitats, Airmen from the 65th Civil Engineer Squadron and 65th Logistics Readiness Squadron petroleum, oil and lubricants flight, were joined by more than 10 emergency response officials during the training at the Praia.

"The training is designed to prepare our fuels team to respond to spills on land and (in the) ocean," said Vitor Berbereia, the 65th CES spill prevention and response program manager. "Due to our location here at Lajes (Field) and the use of the harbor by both the military and Portuguese (officials), we should both be ready to respond together in the case of emergency when the boats are docking to offload fuel or in case something pollutes the water from base operations."

"During an oil spill situation, the first hours (of response) are very important," the program coordinator said. "In a remote location like Lajes (Field) where there are no resources, contractors or private companies to do the actual response, we have to train ourselves and be ready so that we can respond as fast as we can, thereby saving a lot of resources, marine lives and probably millions of dollars."

The joint exercise brought together more than 40 U.S. and host nation's emergency response team members in a classroom-discussion setting and hands-on scenarios.

"We also have volunteers from the 65th CES fire department, who wanted to get more training beyond their area of expertise," Mr. Berbereia said.

Mr. Berbereia said the training was crucial because it allowed the U.S. and Portuguese team to have a background knowledge of the resources available and how they can better deploy and use these resources together in case of an emergency.

Members deployed on water and tackled various spill scenarios for three days of the exercise. The Lajes Field Airmen also deployed some of their best fuel equipment, like boom, pumps, skimmers and boats.

"The training was a great success. We had a good pool of people, and everyone learned a lot about fuel spill response operations," said Bill Tageson, a certified trainer and certifier.

Mr. Tageson is a fuel spill response expert who was part of a team that responded during the Gulf of Mexico spill.

His company specializes in responding to tanker accidents and trains some Navy, Air Force and Marine facilities and environmental training centers members on fuel response management and underwater search and recovery.

After the exercise concluded, Mr. Tageson said that given the weather conditions at Lajes Field, the members are now capable to handle fuel spills.

"They are now very well prepared for land and water spills," Mr. Tageson said. "Working together with so many different organizations helps to build teamwork with the host nation's team and Lajes Airmen."