Updated at 10:38 a.m., Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Large oil-spill exercise to be held off O'ahu's shores
News Release
One of the largest exercises ever conducted in U.S. waters simulating a major oil spill will begin today and run through Friday off the shores of O'ahu, the U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday in a news release.The release did not say exactly where the exercise would be held.
The Coast Guard, the State Department of Health and the Clean Islands Council are conducting the exercise, the release said.
Oil spill experts from Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Russia, and Trinidad and Tobago are expected to observe the exercise, the Coast Guard said. The exercise includes using chemical dispersants released by helicopter and airplane on a fictitious oil spill off the coast of O'ahu.
Dispersants are chemicals that mix with oil and make it disperse into tiny droplets that are more readily biodegradable by ocean bacteria. Dispersants have been proven effective, the release said.
No actual dispersants will be used during the exercise, the Coast Guard said. However, the loading, lifting and application of the dispersants will be simulated. Special teams in boats will test the effectiveness of the operation.
The exercise will help prepare Hawai'i's spill responders for a major oil spill, said the release.
