Exercise responders representing various stakeholders including the Fish and Wildlife Service and BP – Husky Refining LLC practice using the Incident Command System process to respond to a simulated oil spill on the Maumee River, part of a 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. The Incident Command System is a systematic tool used for the command, control and coordination of emergency response. Part of the National Preparedness System, ICS allows for scalable, unified and integrated response to both simple and complex emergent situations, and is required for many government agencies.