If you see the Fall River Fire Department, Fall River Police Department, and U.S. Coast Guard at Battleship Cove, here’s why

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) will hold a full-scale oil spill response training exercise in Fall River on Monday, April 13, 2026. The training will include a classroom session, equipment familiarization, and a hands-on on-water deployment of containment and deflection boom. The exercise is designed to help local first responders develop the knowledge and skills needed to effectively deploy oil-spill containment equipment during the critical first 24 to 48 hours of a spill.

Through the Commonwealth’s Marine Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act (MOSPRA), MassDEP has pre-positioned oil spill response trailers in 70 coastal communities — including Fall River — and has developed 160 Geographic Response Strategies (GRS) to identify and protect sensitive areas in the event of an oil spill.

Participating agencies include the MassDEP, Fall River Fire Department, Fall River Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard, Nuka Research & Planning Group, and Moran Environmental Recovery. The training objectives are to demonstrate the ability to deploy oil spill equipment using standard GRS tactics, assemble a spill response organization using the Incident Command System (ICS), and practice effective communication across multiple agencies.

The day will begin with a classroom session covering MassDEP’s Geographic Response Strategies, booming tactics, incident command, and spill management and safety procedures. Participants will then become familiar with the equipment stored in the Fall River oil spill response trailer. The final phase of the training will take place from approximately 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Battleship Cove, where crews will deploy containment and deflection boom in the water. An oil spill surrogate (peat moss) will be released to test the effectiveness of the boom arrays. While portions of Heritage State Park’s parking lot will be used to stage equipment, the area will remain open to the public throughout the exercise.

To date, MassDEP has sponsored 118 First Responder and GRS Testing Exercises, training more than 3,000 personnel in coastal communities across Massachusetts.