River Response Training
A group sets out on an air boat as part of the Upper Mississippi River Response Training Tuesday along the beach on St. Feriole Island. (Photos by Ted Pennekamp)
An oil containment boom was deployed Tuesday by personnel from several agencies. The boom is designed to capture oil in the event of an oil spill from a train derailment.
Members of various area agencies as well as people from the private sector were on the river in several boats during training Tuesday.
BNSF and CP Rail hold River Response Training in Prairie du Chien
By Ted Pennekamp
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) and the Canadian Pacific Railroad (CP) sponsored an Upper Mississippi River Response Training exercise on and near the beach on St. Feriole Island on Aug. 8-9.
The training was for first responders and river stakeholders and the two-day event is held annually. Locations over the years have included The Quad Cities, Dubuque, Cassville, Prairie du Chien, La Crosse and numerous other cities upstream.
Numerous members of state, federal and local agencies were involved in the training as well as people from the private sector, said Derek Lampkin of the BNSF, who noted that members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Iowa and Wisconsin DNRs, area first responders and fire departments, including Prairie du Chien Fire Chief Harry Remz took part.
The training was presented in cooperation with the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, rail partners, and the Dubuque Community Awareness and Emergency Response Group.
The training consisted of classroom and field presentations, including activities designed to familiarize attendees with recent contingency planning and response equipment. The agenda included orientation to natural and cultural resources, geographic response plans for the area, river-based response equipment and online mapping application, anchors, knots and rope handling, curtain boom and boom deflectors, boom vane, current buster, skimming, collection and temporary storage of spilled oil, boom equipment deployment, jet boat operation and water safety, and equipment decontamination.
“The river is a valuable resource and we want to make sure we’re protecting it in case of the small chance that an incident should happen,” said Lampkin, who noted that the BNSF and the CP, along with area personnel will be better able to handle an oil spill or other contamination due to a train derailment, a barge accident or an accident involving private recreational boats because of the annual training exercise.
In addition to incidents involving the river, Lampkin said that emergency response personnel will also be able to respond to other emergencies such as a semi rollover on a highway.
Lampkin noted Prairie du Chien has a trailer full of emergency response equipment that they can use when needed, whether it be a river incident or some other type of emergency. Dubuque also has trailers. The trailer and equipment is owned by BNSF. Should an incident happen, Lampkin said BNSF and CP will ask area agencies and emergency response teams what kind of mutual aid they need. Among the equipment in the trailer in Prairie du Chien is 1,000 feet of containment boom, Lampkin said.
Lampkin said there were several instructors at the two-day training exercise in Prairie du Chien, including experts from Montana and Texas.
“We need to keep up with training and be proactive,” he said, in noting that the training provided a good hands-on opportunity to work with cutting-edge response equipment and tools.
