STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ) – People may see an increased presence of Coast Guard and other local responders in the waters off Potawatomi State Park in Sturgeon Bay on Thursday.
“Basically, this is just a test to validate various federal, state, county, and city plans to respond to an oil spill, and use these lessons learned to improve our readiness.”
Coast Guard Ensign James Lee says that while this is fairly routine for his agency, it is not for Door County.
“These are normally done at least annually, but we try to do them once every quarter. We choose places all over the Great Lakes, primarily for us Lake Michigan.”
While Lee does not recall a large spill taking place off the waters of Wisconsin, he says it is important to practice their response in case incidents that have happened elsewhere ever do occur in this area.
“On a much larger scale, you’ve had the Exxon diesel spill. This will be something similar to how we would respond to something like that.”
Lee notes things are scheduled to get underway at 11 am Thursday.
“There will be an increase of responder personnel over the next few days, especially on Thursday. We don’t want (people) to be alarmed, it most likely is just in response to this exercise.”
However, Lee says people should not hesitate to report any actual emergencies that may occur during this time.
In addition to the Coast Guard, the City of Sturgeon Bay, Door County, the Green Bay Metropolitan Fire Department, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Venture Inc. are participating in the exercise.
