PORT ANGELES — Tesoro officials and the state Department of Ecology practiced a nightmare scenario Wednesday — a major oil spill in Port Angeles Harbor.

In the hypothetical spill, Port Angeles Harbor was inundated with 420,000 gallons of oil that leaked from the Tesoro dock.

Key players scrambled to coordinate, plan and execute a response to the spill from an incident command center at the Port Angeles Red Lion Hotel.

“Everyone agreed that it was a very good exercise,” said John Schumacher, Tesoro regional manager for contingency planning and response, after a group critique.

“We’re very pleased with it.”

Storyline for drill

The narrative for the worst-case disaster drill was that a tug lost control of its steering and slammed into the Tesoro dock on the west end of the harbor at 5 a.m.

The theoretical crash sheered the dock manifold, pump and block valves at the barge berth, spewing pressurized oil from a 12-inch bunker line.

To make matters worse, strong westerly winds pushed the massive sheen toward the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the story line said.

By 8 a.m., a real-life incident response team of about 80 had assembled at the command center to coordinate a response. The tabletop exercise went nonstop until 4 p.m.

‘Progressive laws’

“This state has very progressive laws and rules about planning, preparing for and responding to potential oil spills,” said Elin Storey, Ecology drill coordinator.

“So the major oil transporters, storers, distributors, vessels and facilities are required to write plans and have to think out a whole bunch of scenarios, resources, logistics and responses ahead of time.”

Responding to an oil spill is like responding to a hurricane, Storey said. It’s not enough to put a plan on the shelf; it needs to be put into practice.

In other drills, responders deploy equipment that would be used in an actual oil spill, like booms.

A worst-case scenario tabletop exercise — like those that Tesoro coordinates every three years — involves several teams of specialists.

These teams include an environmental unit, operations group, situation status team, information center, resource unit, logistics, documentation and legal experts.

“People are thinking about these things ahead of time and actively invest a lot of money to be prepared and have a plan waiting there, so you can prevent the Katrina thing from happening,” said Storey, referring to the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans in 2005.

Containment

Each table was buzzing with activity shortly after 11 a.m., when the scripted oil sheen had made its way into the Strait and traveled halfway to the Dungeness spit.

Responders were trying to contain the oil and keep the oil off the beaches.

Schumacher said the drill is effective because it brings key players to the table, which he says would make for a more seamless response in a real disaster.

“It’s important to know who it is you’re sitting next to,” added Linda Pilkey-Jarvis, Ecology preparedness section manager.

Personnel from the Marine Spill Response Corp., the State Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Coast Guard and the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department joined in Wednesday’s exercise.

“This county, I think, is pretty proactive on the issue of oil spills,” Storey said.

“Commissioner [Mike] Doherty, for example, has served on a number of committees and commissions and councils in the past, and he keeps a pretty close watch on the issues of oil spill prevention and readiness.”

Tesoro had nearly 60 representatives from around the country participating in Wednesday’s drill. If the exercise were real, Tesoro would have been the responsible party.

Schumacher praised Ecology and all the players for their efforts in the exercise. He said Tesoro, which has a 115,000-barrel terminal in Port Angeles, “takes a lot of pride” in being a leader in spill prevention and readiness.

“Port Angeles is a very important port for the whole state of Washington, because it’s really the best staging area for the Straits and for a potential spill on the outer coast,” Storey added.

“There’s infrastructure here, and it just gets more rugged as you go out [west].”

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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.