Tricia Edwards, Environmental Protection Agency, discusses plans for responding to a simulated oil spill on the Maumee River with Operations Section partners from the private-sector Marine Spill Response Corporation, during a Coast Guard-led multi-agency preparedness for response exercise, Aug. 13, 2014. Hosted by Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Toledo, the PREP exercise scenario tested stakeholders’ ability to respond within a unified incident command framework to a simulated allision of a tank barge with a submerged object, causing a worst-case discharge within the Port of Toledo and Maumee Bay that could affect the port’s environmentally-sensitive areas. The goal of the exercise, which drew over 400 participants representing more than a dozen federal, state and local stakeholders, was to improve the Western Lake Erie Area Contingency Plan and build the area’s readiness to respond to an actual oil spill. MSRC, the largest dedicated oil spill and emergency response organization, participated in the exercise because they might be contracted to provide resources in case of an actual oil spill.