Part of WCMRC’s certification program is an annual 1,000-tonne tabletop exercise. This year we were joined by Shell Canada as part of their certification requirements. The joint exercise, which was held at our Burnaby warehouse, was conducted in real-time starting at 7 am and ending at 5 pm. The exercise simulated a spill at the Shellburn Oil Handling Facility in Burnaby and was evaluated by Transport Canada.
WCMRC’s exercise objectives were to:
- Support Shell with their response strategies;
- Work with government agencies and stakeholders to ensure a coordinated response;
- Demonstrate our capability to work through the activities of the Incident Command System (ICS) Planning Cycle;
- Capture and act on recommendations that will aid WCMRC in responding to a real situation or conducting future exercises;
- Allow all participants to develop a better understanding of their ICS roles and responsibilities;
- Allow all participants to better understand the decision making and management processes when facing a marine oil spill.