JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. — The 87th Logistics Readiness Squadron conducted a chemical spill exercise at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., July 15, 2026. The exercise brought various organizations from the installation together to practice proper spill response actions.
The exercise involved classroom activities followed by a simulated incident.
“The classroom training is part of an annual requirement for spill response training,” said Craig Fisher, 787th Civil Engineering Squadron storage tank program manager and spill response program manager. “The training goes over the whole response process, from who you’re supposed to contact, to what actions responders need to take.”
The hands-on exercise began after the classroom training concluded. The exercise involved a simulated hurricane causing debris to hit the side of a large fuel tank, resulting in fuel being expelled and eventually contaminating the waterway.
“In this scenario, they had a power outage, so the leak had to be identified during an inspection,” Fisher said. “That started the whole process of calling different units, then the department goes out to assess the situation and see if it can be contained.”
For this exercise, the simulated spill could not be contained. To minimize the environmental impact, the Joint Base Fire Department firefighters stretched spill booms, a floating device designed to catch fuel, across the waterway.
“Because this scenario simulated a power outage, [responders] wouldn’t be able to tell how much fuel was left in the tank,” Fisher said. “The responding teams used a drone equipped with infrared to actually see the line of demarcation from the fuel that was left in the tank.”
The exercise was funded by the Defense Logistics Agency to maintain a level of readiness should a crisis occur. By having these exercise events often, the organizations involved with a spill response keep their personnel up to date with best practices and procedures.
“We try to maintain a high level of awareness,” Fisher said. “Conducting these exercises is very important should a real-world [event] happen. We already know we’re going to be able to handle it quickly.”