Interagency oil spill exercise held on the Moose River

GORHAM — A dozen emergency first responders tested tactics designed to counter a made-up scenario that a crude oil spill had taken place on a section of Portland Pipe Line along Route 2 in Randolph and then made its way into the Moose River. Last Wednesday morning, Aug. 15, for the second time in two years, employees from federal, state and local agencies deployed a floating orange oil spill boom in the Moose River near its confluence with the Androscoggin River behind the Irving Gas Station at 350 Main Street (Route 2).

The specialists demonstrated their ability to deploy a flat weighted boom following Geographic Response Plans (GRP), which were developed under the sponsorship of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Region I in Boston, Mass., in cooperation with the state Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) and the members of the U.S. Coast Guard National Strike Force — Atlantic Strike Team, as well as the pipeline company plus the EPA contractor: Nuka Research and Planning Group of Plymouth, Mass.