Facebook Twitter Twitter    Archive | www.aapa-ports.org December 9, 2013
   

Preparedness: Bellingham, Hueneme

Print Print this Article | Send to Colleague

The Port of Bellingham has joined the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County in establishing a unified emergency operations center (EOC) near the port-owned Bellingham International Airport. The Port of Hueneme on November 27 hosted an Offshore Platform Security Threat Awareness and Response Program exercise (OPSTAR) conducted by the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Asymmetric Warfare and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Bellingham: Port, City and County Work Together to Establish a Unified Emergency Center

The Port of Bellingham has joined the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County in establishing a unified emergency operations center (EOC) near the port-owned Bellingham International Airport. 

The 24,000 square-foot EOC will be housed in the port’s special-purpose facility, which served as the federal government’s emergency center for the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. The federal government made a substantial investment in the Airport Industrial Park property for use as an emergency operations center; those improvements will be useful for the shared city and county center. The building has been vacant since the federal lease ended.

The proposed 10-year interlocal agreement will take effect in January 2014, subject to approvals by the port commission, the city council and the county council. 

The city and county plan to co-locate and form an emergency operations center to coordinate fire response, law enforcement response, emergency communications and emergency operations and ancillary public safety activities during disasters. The county and the city are partnering with private businesses and will allow the use of the facility by others for emergency operations, emergency training exercises and other emergency services. 

"We look forward to this county and city partnership with the port to make use of this special facility to provide emergency services and training for the community," said Port Commission President Jim Jorgensen.

Hueneme Hosts Homeland Security Drill 

The Port of Hueneme on November 27 hosted an Offshore Platform Security Threat Awareness and Response Program exercise (OPSTAR) conducted by the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Asymmetric Warfare and the U.S. Coast Guard. It was the first security drill since the rollout of the port’s Maritime Advanced Systems and Technology Lab (MAST) program. 

The half-day OPSTAR exercise postulated a simulated attack and occupation of an off-shore oil platform within the Santa Barbara Channel and included a no-notice level III activation of the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management as a "stress test" of its infrastructure and technology capacity. The exercise was designed to test regional security and communications protocols and the ability to thwart terrorist attacks on local assets and interests. The exercise took place in Ventura County, utilizing security assets at the Port of Hueneme. 

The research and experimental use of sophisticated radar, video, satellite and telecommunications technologies assisted in the multijurisdictional planning and coordinated communications efforts of the various participating agencies as well as provided maritime domain awareness supporting tactical events taking place on the offshore platform, from various points of view including the deployment of maritime special operations forces. 

"This exercise provided a great opportunity for the Coast Guard to work with our security partners at the Port of Hueneme," said Capt. Jim Jenkins, the Coast Guard’s LA/LB sector captain of the port. "Our maritime safety and security teams exercised their capabilities in the scenario while acquiring control of an Offshore Oil Platform, accessing it from the air and the sea. The Center for Asymmetric Warfare brought an impressive array of technology to support the security and command and control teams during the event." 

Said Port of Hueneme CEO and Executive Director Kristin Decas: "We are excited to host exercises such as OPSTAR 2013. They advance our newly developed MAST program by fostering ideas, innovation and leading edge technologies for the advancement of ports and the maritime environment."
 

Share Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn