In the context of the DRIVER+ project, a series of Trials and a Final Demonstration will be conducted with the main aim to:
- investigate innovative solutions under simulated crisis condition, by gradually adapting them to operational constrains
- creating acceptance among users through their active involvement, and
- providing evidence to decision-makers that solutions are cost-effective.
Four Trials will be organised to operationalise and test Crisis Management solutions.
DRIVER+ Trial#1 will be launched on 21st – 25th May 2018 in Warsaw, Poland.
Trial #1 aims at demonstrating the potential interest of a more integrated high-level Crisis Management system in the EU, partly in cross-border contexts in terms of improved situation assessment, coordination, resource pooling & sharing, and cross-border cooperation. The Trial itself serves as a demonstration of the potential of a Common Operational Picture approach at European level.
The event will be held throughout 4 days and will cover various exercises.
The main scenario of the trial will be a maintenance error causing massive release of chemical agent from a reservoir containing industrial liquid waste. Turncock failure causes that the pump disposing chemical waste into the reservoir cannot be switched off. Consequently, there is a rapid inflow of a significant amount of a liquid, mud like, toxic chemical to the retention reservoir. Dikes of the reservoir are weakened after prolonged rainfall and under the influence of pressure, they break.
Breaking of the dikes releases approximately 2 500 000 cubic metres of toxic, mud like, fluid as a massive wave that floods nearby localities in a matter of minutes. Included in the path of the spill are several village and towns, where initially 15 people die, and 200 people get severe toxic injuries. The approximate 30 square kilometres of affected land include a river that crosses the border into neighbouring countries. This river is used as a water intake for various industries, agriculture and fresh water companies, resulting in destroyed crops, toxic injuries to livestock, a disturbance in the water supply causing immediate water shortage.
The incident requires a multiagency operation with deployment of international resources based on bilateral cross-border agreements as well as international civil protection mechanisms.
The chemical substance deployed is a: “Red sludge”- a dangerous, very corrosive waste containing mainly Silica residues, oxides and hydroxides: iron, calcium, magnesium and other compounds contained in a bauxite (e.g., titanium compounds).
Three technological solutions will be tested which enable sharing a common operational picture, improve assessment and decision making through 3D mapping from a drone and dynamic modelling of flood wave spreading.
The solutions will be operated by crises management practitioners and evaluated by practitioners and observers being crisis management experts. The result of this high-level exercise will facilitate the decision-making process in such crisis situations and a swift operation when it comes to mass evacuation, resource sharing and pooling, warning and alerting, reporting, and so forth.
STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS EVENT!