Mastering oil spill preparedness: Meeting Washington State's high standards for oil spill emergency management

Washington State has one of the highest regulatory standards for oil spill management in the country, mandating that all oil spill contingency plan holders test their plans annually to continue to transport oil throughout the state. Therefore, it was crucial for UPRR to successfully coordinate a multi-organization exercise to prepare for a worst-case discharge incident. The scope of the exercise included making sure all parties were informed of their role, understood the context, and implemented their organization’s identified contingency plan to promote spill response inter-operational coordination.

UPRR’s Oil Spill Contingency Plan—developed by GHD—is very specific and requires precise criteria for controlling and mitigating the diverse impacts an oil spill can have on the environment and human health.

The exercise scenario required UPRR and their contracted Spill Management Team members to test their roles and responsibilities so that they could demonstrate the response capabilities UPRR may utilize in the event of an oil spill. The exercise simulated one incident management planning cycle and led to the development of an Incident Action Plan similar to what would be used in an actual incident response. 

GHD’s Emergency Management team planned, led, facilitated and participated in the various stages and sections of the exercise. Participants addressed the challenges that may be faced in the unlikely event of an oil spill. Fire department, regulatory officials—such as the Washington State Department of Ecology—and community representatives, among others, practiced the response process to test a multi-agency coordinated response.

The exercise followed the incident planning process as defined by the National Incident Management System. This event lasted for eight hours and included meetings with more than 75 participants, supervised by more than ten evaluators from the State of Washington.

This type of exercise helps UPRR to accomplish their goal of delivering every oil-carrying tank car safely while being prepared to respond in case of an incident. UPRR passed the exercise, with no required action items for correction. The exercise is a critical part of regulatory requirements to transport oil in the State of Washington. Key takeaways of the exercise include an understanding of the environmental and human health impacts, as well as the roles and responsibilities each organization has in the response.

Thanks in part to GHD’s Emergency Management Team’s planning and guidance through the exercise, UPRR successfully met the regulatory compliance criteria for oil spill handling.