Exercise preps responders, trucking companies for potential spill

Local first responders and truck industry officials prepared how to properly respond to a diesel spill Wednesday during a training exercise in Morgan City.

The St. Mary Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness hosted a Diver Responsibility Tabletop Exercise at the Port of Morgan City’s Government Emergency Operations Center.

Officials went through a hypothetical environmentally hazardous scenario where an 18-wheeler carrying diesel overturned on La. 70 by Brownell Homes in Morgan City after the driver swerved to miss hitting a child on a bicycle.

All first-responder agencies in Morgan City, including Morgan City police and fire departments, parish 911 district, sheriff’s office, state police hazmat services, among others, participated in the training. Big businesses, such as Shell, had personnel in attendance because many of their products are hauled by trucking companies.

In Wednesday’s scenario, officials were trying to prevent diesel fuel from getting into a drainage canal and reaching Lake Palourde, said Duval Arthur, parish homeland and security and emergency preparedness director.

The pretend incident was set at 7:35 a.m. when children would have been on their way to school. First responders also had to take into account the safety of nearby residents, especially elderly people, Arthur said.

One useful emergency response feature that’s relatively new is the ability for people to text 911, if they’re unable to talk, Arthur said.

Anthony Baham, campus administrator for South Central Louisiana Technical College’s Young Memorial Campus, contacted Arthur about holding the training exercise.

Trucking company Ryder and some of its carriers also participated in the exercise.

Young Memorial has partnered with Ryder for the past few years in connection with the college’s commercial vehicle operations program.

“We’ve done some different things working in conjunction with their carriers,” Baham said.

The college decided to use the port center to do the exercise as a way to try to keep Morgan City safe, Baham said.

Ryder wanted to do a training course, so they reached out to Baham to facilitate the training, Ryder Compliance Analyst Donald Hubert said.

No particular incident sparked Ryder wanting to participate in the exercise, Hubert said.

“We really just wanted to test our process to make sure we were notifying the right people and make sure our processes were aligned with the regulatory requirements,” Hubert said.

Incidents, such as the scenario practiced Wednesday, are extremely rare, but it’s important to still prepare for what could happen, Hubert said.

United Vision Logistics and Team One Logistics were among Ryder’s carriers that took part in the event.

Arthur said preparing to follow emergency plans is a vitally important thing for members of the public and trucking companies to practice for in the event of a potentially hazardous situation.