Full scale response to mock disaster

Pictured above is drone footage of Enbridge booms and equipment that were deployed as part of an emergency response exercise simulating an emergency where crude oil leaked from a pipeline and efforts were underway to prevent that oil from reaching the St. Lawrence. The equipment was deployed at OETIO while command centres were set up in at the NAV Centre in Cornwall and South Dundas Municipal Centre. (Enbridge/Contributed photo)

SOUTH DUNDAS – What would happen if an oil pipeline passing through South Dundas sprung a leak?

Thanks to last week’s 2025 Enbridge Eastern Region Full Scale Emergency Exercise, local community and emergency officials now have a pretty good idea what to do in case that emergency situation ever happens.

South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services representatives and South Dundas municipal officials participated in last Wednesday’s emergency exercise hosted by Enbridge.

Simulated was a 4 a.m. release of crude oil where the pipeline passes through South Dundas north of Morrisburg triggering a large-scale, three day response effort to contain and clean up the mock spill that had theoretically entered local waterways.

“In the simulation, we had a situation where the crude oil had entered local waterways and was working its way to the St. Lawrence,” explained SDFES, Acting Captain for the Morrisburg station, Bill Chafe. “So the top priority in terms of the emergency was mitigating and identifying control points where they could stop the flow before it reached the St. Lawrence, because of course once it gets in there it’s going to be passing municipal water intakes.”

To do that an integrated response from Enbridge with all its safety resources and community safety officials would be required and all those officials were involved in last Wednesday’s exercise.

An operations centre was set up at the NAV centre in Cornwall to accommodate the large volume of resources that needed to be pulled together and then an emergency response centre was convened at the South Dundas Municipal Centre where Municipal officials including the mayor and deputy mayor, CAO and clerk along with infrastructure services participated in the exercise. The actual deployment of equipment by Enbridge was at the OEITO.

“Enbridge’s mitigation efforts were really a sight to behold,” said Chafe, explaining that they were able to watch live footage from the multiple drones deployed to coordinate efforts between the Cornwall and Morrisburg emergency operations centres.

“Having that level of coordination really makes all the difference in responding to an emergency like that,” said Chafe. “And, this opportunity with Enbridge was great. I can’t think of a better chance to really test our emergency response capacity and to learn and improve at the same time.”

“The emergency practice session with Enbridge Gas highlights the importance of team work and preparedness in keeping our community safe,” said South Dundas Mayor Jason Broad. “By working together with our utility partners, our emergency management team and first responders, we ensure that we’re ready to respond quickly and effectively to any situation.”