Brigades from outer North West, Eastern and Southern metropolitan areas, Melbourne Water, Victoria Police, Salvation Army and St John Ambulance were involved in the training, titled Exercise Sheldon.
CFA Leading Firefighter and exercise coordinator, Troy Lowther, said the training exercise evaluated and reviewed the planned response arrangements for an incident at the facility.
He said the exercise was held in real time and tested Major Hazard Facility Regulations that CFA brigades would be required to meet when responding to an incident at Winneke.
“The exercise was a huge success with more than 100 people taking part from various CFA districts and emergency service organisations,” he said.
“It was a fantastic opportunity for CFA, Melbourne Water and other agencies to ensure they are in the best position to respond to this type of incident at the Winneke Water Treatment Plant.”
LFF Lowther said throughout the exercise, participants were tested in areas of Command and Control, and how they followed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
He said the scenario followed a routine Tuesday morning at Melbourne Water’s Winneke Treatment Plant where a chlorine delivery was in progress at the facility. A road tanker, containing 13 tonnes of liquid chlorine was connected via a padding air and a liquid transfer hose. During this process, a failure in the transfer hose created a Level 3 chlorine leak. Responding crews were required to isolate and contain the leak and rescue any casualties.
Melbourne Water Manager of Water Operations, John Woodland, said the exercise also aimed to strengthen relationships across agencies.
“This was an important activity to test our preparedness in the unlikely event of a major emergency situation,” Mr Woodland said.
“We hope we never face a situation where we have to put these operations into action. However we need to ensure our people and systems are adequately prepared should an emergency situation arise,” he added.
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