Gina Hamilton

Petroleum tanks in South Portland (WGME) AUGUSTA -- Beginning Monday, July 17, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection will conduct training exercises with other maritime oil spill partners in Portland Harbor near the Sprague Energy Terminal. The goal is to make sure the plans for an oil spill are current and coordinated by all agencies involved. Participants in the exercise include Maine DEP Response Division, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, the United States Coast Guard, and response personnel from private industry. Sprague Energy is supporting the exercise through utilization of their facilities. The exercises will go on until July 20, and equipment will include various boats, which will use the Bug Light boat ramp to enter the bay and the upper Fore River area around Sprague Energy Terminal on both the Portland and South Portland shores. Oil spill containment booms will be visible in the Fore River and in Casco Bay. They might be seen from the Veteran's Memorial Bridge, I-295, and Casco Bay Bridge. Twelve people and three boats will deploy, test and retrieve 4,000 miles of boom during this training. Once again, this is a drill, not an actual emergency. It is part of a series of trainings that DEP conducts annually along the state's coastline.