The Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) is participating in a two-day, multi-jurisdictional, large-scale training exercise simulating a CSX train derailment spill of flammable crude oil on land and in the Hudson River resulting in simulated fires and mass causalities. Hosted and organized by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, participants include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Railroad Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, CSX Transportation, Orange County, the City of Newburgh and staff from the Division of Homeland Security’s Offices of Fire Prevention and Control and Emergency Management, the New York State Police, Department of Environmental Conservation, as well as many local and regional mutual aid partners.

 "One of my top priorities is ensuring that West Point remains a safe and secure installation for our cadets and everyone who lives and works here," said Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, Superintendent, United States Military Academy at West Point.  "Exercises like this provide us with valuable training to better prepare us to work and coordinate effectively with other public and private sector agencies and respond to any real-world scenario, to ensure the safety of West Point and our neighboring communities."

Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner John P. Melville said, “The potential for a large-scale disaster in our state is unfortunately very real and training for an event such as a crude oil spill with partners from every level of government as well as the private sector is a necessity to keep our communities safe. Training our first responders to work together to protect our residents will help us prepare for, respond to and recover more easily from  emergencies from hazardous, combustible liquid spills.”

State Police Superintendent Joseph A. D’Amico said, “Collaboration is the key when it comes to any disaster response, and training exercises are a valuable tool to ensure that all agencies are prepared. Working together now with our federal, state and local partners puts us all in the best position to minimize the impact to our communities in the event of a disaster.”

Department of Environmental Conservation Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos said, “Under the leadership of Governor Cuomo, New York State has made great progress in taking measures to prevent and prepare for a potential crude oil spill. This training exercise is one of many the state has held to ensure federal, state and local governments work seamlessly together in the event of an actual oil spill.”

The exercise, which began on April 20 and will conclude on April 22 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point includes the establishment of a multi-agency Unified Command Center to manage the simulated derailment, a Joint Information Center to coordinate public information regarding the event, as well as the deployment and operation of State and local response assets designed to address major events such as this.  Evolutions during the exercise include: operation of the recently deployed high volume firefighting foam trailers which are part of the newly established NYS Foam Task Force; air monitoring evolutions by emergency personnel; tactical and strategic decision making in response to the circumstances; mass casualty response protocols; and others.  DHSES staff from the Offices of Emergency Management and Fire Prevention and Control are involved in both pre-exercise training days leading up to the event and during the actual exercise and are also coordinating its foam trailer and air monitoring training evolutions with CSX who is providing rail car specific training for this event.

Training exercises such as this are vital to the readiness of federal, state and local law enforcement and public safety personnel and private sector partners to respond to incidents that have the potential to adversely impact those who live work and visit the State of New York.  State and emergency response officials participated in more than two dozen training exercises last year to better prepare our communities for potential crude oil disasters.

In addition, Governor Cuomo's 2015 Opportunity Agenda and the 2015-16 New York State Budget included several measures to further prevent and prepare for potential crude oil incidents. These include providing the necessary funding for staff and associated preparedness costs by increasing the Oil Spill Fund cap to $40 million from $25 million and allowing up to $2.1 million of the Fund annually to be used for prevention and preparedness measures. These changes support compliance with Governor Cuomo's Executive Order 125, which outlines steps the state is taking to improve oil spill response and prevention.

About DHSES

The Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) and its four offices -- Counter Terrorism, Emergency Management, Fire Prevention and Control, and Interoperable and Emergency Communications -- provide leadership, coordination and support for efforts to prevent, protect against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorism and other man-made and natural disasters, threats, fires and other emergencies.  For more information, visit the DHSES Facebook page, follow @NYSDHSES on Twitter, or visit dhses.ny.gov.

 
Phots from exercise below: