Emergency Fuel Planning

The RDPO is collaborating with regional stakeholders to create effective emergency fuel plans for each county.

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Background

Past assessments of public safety agencies identified significant gaps in fuel supply following a catastrophic earthquake in our region; there will not be enough fuel in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area to support all life-safety needs, especially if the Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub is significantly damaged or destroyed. The Hub is a six-mile stretch along the Willamette River in NW Portland that holds most of Oregon’s fuel oil infrastructure, and other electrical and natural gas infrastructure. If pipelines break and the Hub fails, response and recovery operations such as evacuations, debris management, and transportation of life-sustaining commodities will be severely crippled.

Difficulty of fuel shortage after a catastrophic earthquake was also noted in after-action reports following several county-level exercises as well as 2016’s Cascadia Rising National Level Exercise. After-action reports identified a lack of emergency fuel planning, including fuel distribution across the five-county region in a catastrophic incident, as a gap. The regional partners identified the need to develop fuel allocation strategies to balance life safety issues in heavily impacted zones with restoration of key services needed for response in areas with less severe damage.

2018 TABLETOP EXERCISE

In early 2018, the RDPO delivered a regional emergency fuel tabletop exercise, “Fueling Anxiety,” in partnership with the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE). This TTX enabled regional partners to convene with state and federal, and private sector fuel industry partners to test out the State’s  Oregon Fuel Action Plan together with Washington County’s Emergency Fuel Management Plan. As a result of this TTX, Clackamas, Clark, Columbia and Multnomah counties pursued funding to develop their own emergency fuel assessments and planning. Read the Fueling Anxiety 2018 TTX After Action Report to learn more about lessons from the TTX.

PHASES 1 and 2:
REGIONAL PLANNING PROJECT

In late 2019, the RDPO began a multi-phase project, led by Clackamas County and contracted to CNA, to address the gaps identified during previous assessments and after-action reports, and to improve joint planning for the region’s fuel systems. A major deliverable of this project is developing emergency fuel management plans for four of the five counties in the RDPO region: Clackamas, Clark, Columbia, and Multnomah counties. The fifth county, Washington County, has an established emergency fuel management plan.

 
 

During Phase 1 (December 2019 – March 2021), CNA conducted an in-depth assessment on the region’s regional fuel supply chain and usage to better understand the existing fuel network across the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region and its vulnerabilities. The analysis covered fuel sourcing; access and distribution; fuel availability; and estimated fuel usage.

During Phase 2 (May 2020 – March 2021), CNA applied its assessments and findings to develop four emergency fuel management plans at each of the county levels that address fuel management in response to an event that curtails or disrupts fuel supply; these plans aim to minimize the impact of fuel shortages on the County’s emergency response capabilities and the operation of critical infrastructure, and emphasizes coordination among the five counties comprising the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region in a fuel allocation process for mission-critical activities.

Counties provided feedback on their individual plans during the draft process.

Phases 1 and 2 DISSEMINATION EVENT

At a dissemination event (May 2021), CNA provided partners and stakeholders with an overview of their methodology, analysis, and key recommendations. At the event, participants also voted on fuel plan-informed exercise priorities for an upcoming Phase 3 of the project, a second fuel shortage tabletop exercise.

Phase 3:
Regional TABLETOP EXERCISE

Phase 3 is the planning and execution of a regional tabletop exercise that aims to validate the newly written fuel management plans, and inform the development of protocols and procedures to execute the fuel plans. This tabletop will also include previous fuel planning efforts from Washington County and with the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE); and jurisdiction specific needs and considerations for cross-county coordination. The tabletop exercise, “Fuel Injection,” was held on September 22, 2022. An executive summary of events will be forthcoming.