Exol Lubricants has announced that they have managed to successfully facilitated an exercise that allowed team members to practice their response to a hydrocarbon spill incident. This practice drill took place at the company’s bulk blending site which is located in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

The Exercise Pride operation was carried out by Exol Lubricants on the 21st September, with the Oil Spill Incident Management Exercise took place in real time at the Stevenson Wharf in Rotherham. This practice drill had been designed in order to exercise the emergency response procedures and contingency plans that have been put in place for the Canal and River Trust in the North East.

The scenario that was played out in September was also designed to test the current arrangements and contingency measures that are have been put in place by Exol Lubricants for a lever tier 2 response. This response has been accredited to Adler and Allan, with a number of organisations invited to take part such as Adler & Allan Ltd Marine Response Team, Canal & River Trust North East, Mainmast tanker operation, MCA, Natural England, Environment Agency, MMO and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.

The scenario used for the practice drill consisted of a crew report of a failed hose coupling located on a tanker and an estimated three tonnes of lubricating oil entering the canal system, this was taking place with a strong westerly breeze that would slowly move the oil slick towards Rotherham Lock. The objectives of this exercise included setting up a joint Oil Spill Management Team, based at the Incident Command Centre, testing the operational interface between the Canal River Trust and Adler & Allan as well as the Category One responders, and considering the arrangements for the disposal of the recovered oil and any oily waste while also looking to test the operation of the ICC.

Exol Lubricants have been praised for their support of the event, offering a training opportunity while also displaying their rapid and effective method of booming the canal if a spill were to occur.