Teaming up for a "Drill Spill"

FINN ROCK: “The spill drill is helpful to keep our partnerships working well so that we’ll be ready in the case of a real incident,” according to Eugene Water & Electric Board Water Resources Supervisor Susan Fricke.

The annual exercise brought together close to 50 members of the McKenzie Watershed Emergency Response System (MWERS) last Wednesday. They came from more than a dozen local, state, and federal agencies participated, including McKenzie and Upper McKenzie fire departments, Eugene-Springfield Fire Hazmat, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, the Springfield Utility Board, the City of Springfield, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Forest Service. The response team uses an emergency notification system and detailed mapping to give crews information and instructions about containing spills at pre-designated deployment sites throughout the watershed.

Officials say the Finn Rock Landing is an ideal location to capture contaminants in the case of an actual spill in the upper watershed. The landing provides access to the McKenzie River, which is far upstream of EWEB’s Hayden Bridge Water Treatment Facility and downstream of the town of Blue River. In addition, the McKenzie River Trust recently upgraded the landing, improving the boat ramp and parking lot, making the site a reliable deployment point.

Agency representatives agree it’s important to regularly refresh the skills required to deploy the booms quickly and efficiently. While some are familiar with the process, boom deployment is complicated even during good weather. So, having time to practice together as a team improves the likelihood of success during a real spill event.

The drill was also a reminder of a 2017 incident when a tanker truck carrying about 11,000 gallons of gasoline crashed on the Hwy. 126, about a mile east of Leaburg. The crash occurred just 1,500 feet from the river. Fortunately, none of the roughly 1,700 gallons of spilled fuel entered the river’s tributaries.

The MWERS emergency response system was created in 2002 by EWEB and McKenzie Fire & Rescue Fire to assist first responders in the event of a hazardous materials spill or other emergency threatening the water quality of the McKenzie River, Eugene’s sole source of drinking water. The system uses detailed mapping and computer technology to give emergency crews information and instructions for containing spills in specific river segments. In addition, three fully equipped interagency response trailers are staged throughout the McKenzie Watershed for rapid response to a spill.