NOAA Team Supports U.S. Coast Guard Full-Scale Oil Spill Exercise in Florida
APRIL 22, 2024 — NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) teamed up with the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to participate in a tri-annual, full-scale national oil spill exercise as part of the Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP). The exercise, hosted by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida, was conducted on April 16-17.
The PREP exercise brought together state, federal, industry, and local responders to coordinate and apply a variety of response plans to a large, simulated oil spill incident at a fuel storage facility. The exercise followed equipment deployment exercises conducted earlier in the month.
For over four months, OR&R—led by Scientific Support Coordinator Bradford Benggio supporting USCG Seventh District and Natural Resource Trustee Representative for Federal Region IV in Miami, Florida— worked with the exercise planning committee to develop the exercise’s scenario, objectives, injects, and support products representative of real world science and technical information provided during emergency spill responses.
The participating NOAA team contributed knowledge and expertise for the exercise and gained valuable team experience working together within the Incident Command System.