Massachusetts DEP Marine Oil Spill Prevention and Response Program: Geographic Response Plan Development, Testing, and Training Program

Abstract

This program reached a milestone in 2018 which marked the tenth consecutive year of conducting training and exercises. The MassDEP GRP Field Testing and First Responder Training began in 2009 and since then, 66 field exercises have been conducted throughout coastal Massachusetts with over 1,700 first responders trained to date. Beyond the obvious enhancement of overall response capability and capacity at the local, state and federal levels, this long-term HSEEP-compliant training and exercise program has resulted in numerous improvements in both intra and inter-town operational coordination and communication, as well as enhancements to the pre-positioned equipment caches and training delivery and content.