OIL SPILL & Island preparedness conference and exercise in Denmark

Written by Kia Friis Petersen

Danish Civil Protection League is planning an oil spill exercise and conference as part of the OIL SPILL and Island preparedness projects. These events will take place at the island Fanoe on the 23–25 September.

Fanoe is a small island in the Wadden Sea with only 3,500 citizens. During the summertime, however, they have up to 50,000 visitors. This growth increases the possibility to have spontaneous volunteers. However, it also puts a heavy demand on communication to the citizens if an oil spill or similar emergency occurs, especially because many visitors are foreign tourists (when the travel restrictions due to Covid-19 are lifted).

The exercise and conference are planned together with Sydvestjysk Brandvæsen (Southwest Jutlandic Fire and Rescue Service) and Fanoe Municipality. The exercise will focus on the fire and rescue service’s skills for handling oil spills and the management of different types of volunteers, including affiliated, spontaneous and our island preparedness volunteers. Along with the exercise, we are planning a conference where we will bring together experts in the different fields of oil spill response. The participants will be authorities at local, regional, and national level, environment experts, and interest groups.

Hopefully the Covid-19 situation changes for the better during the summer. If the circumstances permit travelling, we will be happy to invite our OIL SPILL Project Partners to participate as observers at the exercise.