Training and Exercises

ODOE participates in virtual and hybrid workshops, tabletop drills, and functional exercises to review, validate, and assess the effectiveness of energy response plans and procedures. This allows ODOE to ensure a coordinated response and rapid recovery of the fuel supply and distribution system from various designed scenarios. The most recent events and exercises are presented below. All lessons learned from responding to actual emergencies, exercises, and training will be incorporated as appropriate in forthcoming revisions to the state’s energy emergency response plans.

 

Regular exercises assess the effectiveness of energy response plans and procedures.

2023 Olympic Pipeline Worst Case Disaster Exercise

ODOE participated in its first Olympic Pipeline exercise in August 2023. ODOE collaborated with the company, state agencies, local government, and federal partners in response to a simulated pipeline breach that caused a jet fuel spill into the Columbia River. Even though Olympic Pipeline’s primary focus was oil spill response, the company took this opportunity to integrate ODOE into the company’s emergency response plan and structure.

During oil spill events or exercises, ODOE will serve as a Liaison/Agency Representative to work with Olympic Pipeline officials to address potential supply and distribution concerns resulting from the oil spill and damaged pipeline. As a part of exercise play, ODOE monitored potential supply concerns resulting from the oil spill and its impacts to meeting local, regional, and statewide jet fuel needs, provided situational awareness, and discussed the need for issuing temporary waivers.

 

Kinder Morgan Tabletop

ODOE regularly participates in private sector tabletops exercises. In October 2022, Kinder Morgan invited ODOE staff to join the company’s National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program Tabletop. The scenario involved a pipeline failure 15 feet underneath the Willamette River with more than 60,000 gallons of jet fuel released into the river. The cause of the failure was unknown, and resulted in the extended shutdown of the Olympic Pipeline for weeks. The Olympic Pipeline supplies more than 75 percent of the refined product used in Oregon from refineries located in Washington.

While the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency worked with Kinder Morgan to address oil spill response and environmental cleanup issues, ODOE focused on potential supply concerns affecting the state. ODOE coordinated with Kinder Morgan, Port of Portland, Portland International Airport (PDX), and jet fuel providers, including British Petroleum, Chevron, Marathon, and others to address:

  • Alternate sources of jet fuel to meet PDX fuel demands. Airport officials coordinated with incoming flights to fuel up at SeaTac, Boise, Denver, Los Angeles, and other airports in the region prior to arriving at PDX until the pipeline is restored.

  • Alternate methods to deliver jet fuel to PDX. With no active loading racks at PDX to receive jet fuel by truck, the only option was for PDX to reroute flights to other airports when possible, and continue ensuring incoming flights were fueling up elsewhere prior to arrival. PDX is installing two loading racks to ensure the airport can receive jet fuel by truck should the pipeline be compromised in a real-world scenario.

  • Potential statewide supply chain impacts to all refined products to Oregon if the pipeline were to remain inoperable for weeks. ODOE may need to request federal support should the pipeline remain shut down and threaten public health and safety due to supply disruptions across all fuel types.

  • Kinder Morgan request for temporary waivers to expedite permits for pipeline repairs under the Willamette River. Waivers included Hours of Service, Vapor Recovery, Reed Vapor Pressure, and others requiring ODOE to coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies.

During a briefing, ODOE reported on the agency’s action to activate the Western States Petroleum Collaborative in this scenario to provide situational awareness, assess potential impacts to neighboring states, and to coordinate potential joint state actions if needed. The inability to move jet fuel from the Kinder Morgan pipeline, barge, or truck could create a backlog of all refined product deliveries, eventually affecting refinery operations in Washington state and supply issues in the region.

 

Exercise participants discuss what they’d do next in the tabletop exercise.

2022 Fuel Injection Tabletop

ODOE participated in the September 2022 Fuel Injection Tabletop exercise sponsored by Clackamas County and the Regional Disaster Preparedness Organization (RDPO). The Tabletop was designed for the Portland metropolitan area counties to test their emergency fuel management plans and make operational decisions in response to a Portland Hills Fault earthquake. This includes Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, and Washington counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington. ODOE participated in the Tabletop that involved participants more than 35 local government agencies, fuel providers, and federal partners.

According the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI), a 6.8 magnitude earthquake along the Portland Hills fault could result in severe ground shaking, landslides, and damage to the Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub. The CEI Hub is a six-mile stretch of facilities on the west bank of the Willamette River in Northwest Portland. The majority of Oregon’s liquid fuels infrastructure and a portion of electric and natural gas infrastructure is located in the CEI Hub.

ODOE provided technical assistance to the counties and helped to validate county processes to determine fuel inventory, requirements, and priorities in response to a Portland Hills fault earthquake scenario. This included validating processes to request and acquire emergency fuel from the state and collaborating on county-specific and regional fuel allocation priorities and strategies for operating fuel points of distribution. on liquid fuels planning, OPUC provided technical assistance to the counties on issues surrounding power outages from this scenario.

While the Tabletop focused on the Portland metro counties fuel management plans, a Portland Hills Fault earthquake could cause statewide fuel supply and distribution problems. ODOE collaborated with the Washington Department of Commerce (WDOC), the state’s ESF-12 lead agency on potential regional impacts from this scenario. WDOC also supported Clark County in validating policies and procedures in the local fuel management plan at the Tabletop.