Maine DEP, Coast Guard and Response Partners To Test Marine Spill Response On Penobscot River
October 24, 2011
Contact: Samantha DePoy-Warren, Maine DEP Spokesperson, 287-5842 (office)or Barbara Parker, Maine DEP Director of Response Services, 446-9889 (cell)
-The boom deployment exercise on the Penobscot River will test the feasibility of potential strategies for successfully responding in the event of a large marine spill-
BUCKSPORT ? Responders from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the US Coast Guard, the towns of Bucksport and Verona, Verso Paper, Webber Tanks, PROPAC and Moran Environmental Recovery will participate in a boom deployment exercise on the Penobscot River on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The training exercise, which will begin on the south end of Verona Island early Tuesday morning and continue with a second deployment Wednesday in Bucksport, is to test the feasibility of response strategies in the event of a large marine oil spill in the river.
Maine has a total of 209 protection strategies designed for environmentally sensitive areas from Kittery to Calais, and the DEP has an active program to review and test these strategies, particularly in areas with the highest risk for marine oil spills to ensure natural resources are most effectively protected.
The Coast Guard will be issuing a notice to mariners regarding temporary closure of the southeast channel of the Penobscot River.
Maine DEP Director of Response Services Barbara Parker will be available to speak with the media at that time about the exercise and how it aligns with the state?s larger spill response plan.
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