CLEAN HARBORS CENTER
BOURNE – Friday, September 10, 2021 – On Thursday, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito and Undersecretary of Community Development Ashley Stolba were joined by Rear Admiral Francis X. McDonald, Massachusetts Maritime Academy President, Alan McKimm, CEO of Clean Harbors, and other state and local officials for a ribbon cutting ceremony for Clean Harbors’ new Emergency Operations Training Center, located on the campus of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
The Training Center, which was funded through a $1 million grant award from the Seaport Economic Council in February 2019, is a three-room facility built to conduct training and educational exercises with the ability to simulate a wide variety of public safety, public health, and disaster scenarios, with a focus on coastal environments.
“Training for incidents and disasters especially in coastal communities is particularly important in Massachusetts where our unique maritime assets are fundamental components of our economy,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Thanks to the partnership through the Seaport Economic Council, Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Clean Harbors, we can start training the next generation of emergency response teams using state-of-the-art equipment immediately.”
“The Clean Harbors Emergency Operations Training Center will be a tremendous asset to both MMA’s undergraduate and graduate level emergency management training, as well as coastal communities by allowing them to test their disaster plans and strategies, identify vulnerabilities, and work to minimize the impacts of long-term damage,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, Chair of the Seaport Economic Council. “The importance of planning cannot be overstated, and this training facility comes with the tools and sophistication to take emergency management to the next level.”
The new facility integrates both legacy and emergent technologies, including cloud-based, social media-based, and crowdsourcing-based applications to simulate command and control in a realistic environment.
The Training Center will serve a variety of purposes which include training Mass. Maritime Academy’s undergraduate and graduate emergency management students, as well as coastal communities in the development of disaster planning and response as well as recovery efforts.
In addition to response training, the Center will allow planners and first responders from coastal cities and towns to identify local vulnerabilities and develop mitigation and planning strategies to reduce impacts in the event of an incident, and allow community leaders to share best practices.
“In addition to serving Mass. Maritime’s cadets, this new training center will be a major benefit to both residents and businesses by helping them improve upon or develop new strategies to protect against or mitigate the impacts of man-made and natural disasters,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy. “While the Commonwealth’s coast is home to numerous legacy industries, this facility, and the training and planning it provides, will strengthen our protections for those sectors and signal to new ones that we value our coastal and maritime assets and the potential they have to offer.”
“This new facility comes with critical applications that directly extend to how coastal communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from, man-made and natural events,” said Undersecretary of Community Development Ashley Stolba, Vice Chair of the Seaport Economic Council.. “With this training center, we can incorporate new thinking into how we position our communities – especially our downtowns and main streets – to recover faster from incidents and continue to grow and thrive well into the future.”
“This money is critical to coastal communities in my district. By investing in maritime education we are contributing to the vitality of the blue economy and contributing to a cleaner environment,” said Senator Susan Moran. “The Clean Harbors Emergency Operations Training Center allows students to develop skills in a realistic environment by integrating modern day technologies. This center will also be used as the Massachusetts Maritime Academy’s Emergency Operations Center.”
“The new Clean Harbor’s Emergency Operations Training Center at Mass Maritime Academy will provide a unique training environment at the Commonwealth’s Leadership University to further prepare cadets to take critical leadership and management roles during difficult disaster and emergency incidents,” said Representative David T. Vieira. “My sincere thanks to the Baker-Polito administration for making this training center a reality, and to Admiral McDonald and his leadership team for their continued commitment to excellence in Leadership, Emergency Management, and Maritime education.”