Emergency Personnel Participate in Oil Spill Response Program

Nearly 250 first responders participated in a National Preparedness Response Exercise Program in Los Angeles including U.S. Coast Guard, Chevron, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Office of Spill Prevention and Response, NOAA, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Los Angeles County Fire Department, El Segundo Fire Department, Oiled Wildlife Care Network, Marine Spill Response Corporation, National Response Corporation, The Response Group, CardnoEntrix, Clean Harbors, Environmental Science Services and Gallagher Marine. Several other local first responders attended the exercise as observers, May 14, 2013. 

The National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) is designed to test oil spill response plans of certain vessels and facilities. The PREP was developed to provide a mechanism for compliance with the exercise requirements, while being economically feasible for the government and oil industry to adopt and sustain. The PREP is a unified federal effort and satisfies the exercise requirements of the Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) Office of Pipeline Safety, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). Completion of the PREP exercises will satisfy all OPA 90 mandated federal oil pollution response exercise requirements.

The outcome of the exercise resulted in improved communication and multi-agency response capabilities in the event of an actual incident of this type.