Taking the boom around the ‘oil spill’ in exercise

A pontoon boat hooked onto a long boom takes the boom out around a simulated oil spill area during an oil spill training exercise at Mainprize Regional Park on Thursday morning. An oil spill was simulated by putting peat moss into the water as it floats and creates a discolouration to differentiate it from the lake water. The oil spill training was put on by the Oil Spill Contingency Group for southeast Saskatchewan, which most area oil companies are a member of. Training exercises like this one for local oil employees are held once a year to keep employees up to date on the techniques used to clean up oil spills.