Novato Coast Guard Crews Hold Oil Spill Drill

Coast Guard crews stationed in Novato participated in an oil-spill response training drill last week.

Members of the Pacific Strike Team worked in support of San Francisco-based Coast Guard Cutter Aspen crews on Thursday in the San Francisco Bay.

The purpose of the drill was to make sure the Coast Guard's spilled oil recovery system (SORS) is functioning properly and that proficiency is improved.

SORS equipment is installed on moving vessels in less than an hour with a lifting crane assisting a crew of 10 members.

The Cutter Aspen is a 225-foot buoy tender home-ported at Yerba Buena Island.

“Responding to pollution incidents is a team effort in the Coast Guard and joint training with other units only strengthens our ability to effectively act,” Cmdr. William Carter of the PST said in a prepared statement.

The PST is among three National Strike Force teams.

“Anytime you do a SORS training things can go wrong, but this drill went well due to everybody coming back to the shore safely, training was complete, and the crews were able to operate the systems safely,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Kevin Richards, a damage controlman assigned to the PST in a prepared statement.

The SORS skimming system is a four-step process culminating with containment of the spilled oil in a storage tank. Contained oil is sent to a recycling or disposal facility.

Crew members dumped rice into the water from a 26-foot boat to simulate oil in the test process.

“Most of the cutter crews are familiar with the system, but we are there as the subject matter experts to help train and assist because they don’t do it as frequently as we do,” said Petty Officer 1st Class James Rogers, a boatswain mate assigned to the PST.