The week of August 18, 2014, the OR&R participated in a worst-case oil discharge exercise for the Shell Harbor Island Oil Terminal in downtown Seattle.
The exercise simulated a response to a spill of over 60,000 barrels of marine diesel oil from the Shell facility into the West Duwamish Waterway and Elliot Bay.

The OR&R Scientific Support Team provided standard spill support, including forecasts of the oil movement and fate and development of plans to survey oiled shorelines.

OR&R also provided ERMA support for the Shell Harbor Island, [link to NW ERMA] using ERMA as the government common operational picture (COP) and mirroring the Shell COP. The goal was to have both COPs displaying the same information and being used by different sections of the drill team to test interoperability between the two COPs by sharing data seamlessly and sharing GIS tasks. This helps improve situational awareness, efficiency, and continuity during the drill.

In addition to NOAA, exercise participants included responders from Shell Oil, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound, Washington Department of Ecology and Washington Department of Fish and Game. Prior to the exercise, OR&R Emergency Response Division staff helped provide training to the Shell local and national response team members. Topics presented included the role of the NOAA Scientific Support Team in spill response, oil trajectory modeling, and basic oceanography of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea.

For additional information, contact Ruth.Yender@noaa.gov or Nicolas.Eckhardt@noaa.gov.

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