CSRO SERVICES            History to Resurface? In 1946 the US Army transport ship Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski sank in the waters of Grenville Channel on the north coast of British Columbia, Canada. Although all the crew were rescued the Zalinski took to the bottom with her a cargo that included bombs and oil. Recently, with the emphasis being on environmental protection and the Zalinski's hull deteriorating, a joint project team was formed to plan the recovery of the oil left on board. This included many agencies including the US Coastguard, Canadian Coastguard, Western Canada Marine Response Corporation, many of the Canadian Spill Response Organization member companies and a myriad of other interested parties from both governments and industry. With the intention of removing the oil from the vessel in Spring of 2010 a plan was developed that covered the technical aspects of the recovery and also procedures to be followed in the event oil escaped during the process. What better way to test the effectiveness of the spill response plan for 2010 than to make it the subject for a major spill response exercise? Representatives of all the interested parties gathered in Prince Rupert, BC on September 30 and October 1st, 2009, established a centralized Emergency Operations Centre and put the plan to the test while receiving inputs and feedback from a "Truth Unit" that simulated "reality". A number of refinements were made to the plan as a result of the two day round the clock exercise. Canadian Spill Response Organization © 2009 All Rights Reserved