‘We need to be ready’
Exercise simulates response to spill in canal from tanker truck
A bright yellow boom was stretched across the Welland Canal south of Bridge 21 in Port Colborne Wednesday morning to protect the city’s water supply after a tanker truck carrying a refined petroleum product went into the water.
Officials from St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., Port Colborne Fire and Emergency Services, Niagara Emergency Medical Services, Niagara Region, Quantum Murray Environmental, ECRC-Simec and Marine Clean and other agencies were all on hand on both sides of the canal to deal with a spill from the truck.
Thankfully, it was only an emergency response exercise with a simulated spill in the canal.
Andrew Bogora, the Seaway’s communications and public relations officer, said the agency undertakes an emergency exercise once a year on the canal and this year it was held in Port Colborne.
Bogora said the exercises encompass first responders, including fire, police, and EMS, depending on the scenario set out and whether they are available to take part.
“It’s to ensure our relationships are well entrenched and that in a genuine emergency, should one occur, those well-tested relationships will be ready to respond at a moment’s notice.”
In Wednesday’s scenario, a tanker truck full of a “refined petroleum product” went into the canal, threatening the city’s water supply, which is north of Bridge 21 near the entrance to the weir.
Bogora said outside contractors the Seaway has long-standing relationships with, like Marine Clean, Quantum Murray Environmental and ECRC-Simec were part of the exercise as well.
While the various agencies were at the canal, utilizing Snider Dock Services on the east side and the city docks on the west side, on the third floor of city hall Port Colborne’s municipal emergency control group was meeting.
The group consists of various city staff from different departments that would deal with an emergency that would affect the city as a whole, like a spill in the canal.
One of those members is fire chief Tom Cartwright who said the Seaway was wanting to test its response capabilities and involved other agencies in the area, “particularly the city because of the potential water shutdown … plus the danger in the canal.”
“We activated our control centre and are playing our various roles, what we’d be doing in an event such as this,” said the chief.
He said it was a good way to test the city and all of the other agencies.
“We’ll make this a quarterly event over the next few years, holding training and actual exercises,” Cartwright said, adding the Scott Luey, the city’s CAO, is a proponent of more exercises.
Luey said annual exercises are a minimum requirement under legislation.
“I think we need to get past the minimum. Having training like this gives us the opportunity to learn each other’s roles, so we can be alternates when someone is on vacation or off sick,” he said.
“We know it’s not a question if an emergency will happen in Port Colborne, it’s a question of when it will happen, and we need to be ready. Having everyone trained and trained more often will make sure everyone is sharp when it does