Coast Guard trains for oil spill cleanup response in Charleston

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Coast Guard and partner agencies work with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association on oil spill response training in Charleston this week.

The 3 day training began on Tuesday when the Charleston sector was joined by NOAA and industry partners. The coastal authorities are learning shoreline cleanup and assessment techniques to help responders assess pollution-impacted beaches.

The training includes in-classroom and on-site response education to learn different response techniques for shorelines like sandy beaches.

Incident Management Division Chief Lt. Michael Allen says the NOAA training only happens a few times a year and is valuable to the Charleston sector.

“Training like this is beneficial because it allows us to have the training necessary to do a response and assessment prior to actually needing to do it.,” Allen says. “So you want to make sure that you have the training and people that are prepared to respond on scene to determine what’s happened, what could potential going to happen, what the impacts could potentially be so that we can have the teams ready to go to respond to deal with the assessment and mitigate the impacts of the environment.”

Allen says the training gives active duty personnel a better idea of what they can face and shortens response times to future pollution cleanups.

Other Coast Guard members from Massachusetts, Port Canaveral and Jacksonville learned with Charleston members. Allen says having partners join the experience networks the members for future incidents to accomplish the mission.

Jacksonville sector member Laila Robinson says the training will benefit the Coast Guard and help her with future incidents.

“We do deal a lot with oil spills,” Robinson says. “We’re in a big port, so when it comes to ships and hurricanes, we are right through that zone as well. So, whenever something happens it would be nice to have knowledgeable books, education to benefit my shop a little better.”

Officials say oil spills happen a lot more than people think. They say the training will help with faster response times. Officials urge people to report oil sheen sightings to the National Response Center to respond faster.

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