ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- The 611th Civil Engineer Squadron, 3rd Civil Engineer Squadron, Coast Guard, Navy's Supervisor of Salvage and the Alaska Environmental Protection Agency combined this year to practice decontamination procedures.

Ice Ops is an annual exercise, which took place Feb. 24-25 here, to prepare for hazardous material spills in arctic conditions.

The most hazardous spills people hear about occur in the open seas, like an explosion in the pump room of the Meg Borg in 1990, in the Gulf of Mexico. The tanker released approximately 238 barrels of oil into the gulf. Ice Ops allows the 611th, and other participating organizations, to prepare for events such as this on and in Elmendorf's frozen Sixmile Lake.

This year was unique from previous Ice Ops exercises. For the first time in the eight years, all teams in the exercise worked in conglomerate groups, rather than participating in individual units like past Ice Ops.

"With this particular exercise, you will never be able to succeed as an individual," said Coast Guard Capt. Mark Hamilton. "It takes full coordination."

Several participants attended safety briefings before starting the exercise. The briefings emphasized risks of cold weather exercises, and equipment risks to all who participated and observed.

Some may recommend burning the material to save manpower and cost. However, others disagree.

"You could burn the oil, but, and it is not advised because of the harm it does to the environment you would have to get the correct permit for it," said John Brown, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. "For a small spill, you wouldn't get the permit."

There are techniques in place people can use to remove the hazardous material and recycle it.

The techniques used include berming, which is a way of removing spills with absorption materials, such as snow and sand. Berming is the first response choice for removing hazardous materials from surface spills.

For under ice spills, teams must use different techniques. A core sample must be taken to determine the safe amount of weight the ice can hold. After the core sample is taken, a Ground Penetrating Radar Unit is used to determine the ice's underside contour. Teams look for cavities in the ice, or spots where the ice is thinner, where the hazardous material may pool and would be easier to get to.

The first defense against underwater hazardous material is a blocking technique. With blocking, teams use custom built machines to cut precision slits in the ice to place plywood boards and diverts the flow of the material.

After blocking techniques have been put into place, a Rope Mop is used to scrape a small trench of ice off of the surface, and punch three to four holes through the ice. The next step is hooking up the brush system, which drags along the surface of the water scraping the hazardous material off into a collection pot. 

"It works like a squeegee," said Ron Lurk, 611th CES chief of operations.

A Drum Skimmer tool is then used and lowered into the water. It scrapes the oil stuck to the spinning cylindrical drum, and pumps it back to a storage tank. First, using the custom ice cutters, several squares of ice are carved out and removed making a large hole in the ice. 

The last step before the end-of- the-day clean up is deployment of the Weir Skimmer. This doughnut shaped device floats in a similar hole to the Drum Skimmer. It sucks water and oil into the filter plate, and acts as an oil and water separator.

After all the devices are used, Ice Ops participants clean the equipment and pack up for the day, being careful to fill in and mark any holes made to the ice. The next day starts bright and early in a new location to practice all over again.