The Great Lakes Towing Company proudly hosted emergency responders from across the Great Lakes at their Cleveland Shipyard facility for a U. S. Coast Guard Preparedness Response Exercise Program (PREP) one-day oil spill exercise. Below is a message from the U.S. Coast Guard Commanding Officer, J.W. Russell to Greg Thauvette, Vice President – Operations at The Towing Company.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
United States Coast Guard

Commanding Officer
U.S. Coast Guard
Marine Safety Unit Cleveland

1055 East 9th Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44114

June 17, 2015

The Great Lakes Towing Company
Attn: Greg Thauvette
4500 Division A venue
Cleveland, OH 44102

Dear Mr. Thauvette,

Thank you for allowing the use of your facility for the recent National Preparedness and Response Exercise Program (PREP) Full Scale Exercise on June 17, 2015. The exercise tested the Northeast Ohio Geographic Response Plan’s capacity to properly coordinate a response to an oil spill to protect the public and the environment. You and Mr. Lindsay Dew hospitably welcomed the staging of the MN DORTHY ANN-PATHFINDER, several hundred feet of boom and other response equipment, and over 80 federal, state, local, and industry representatives to maximize participation and facilitate a highly successful exercise. Your tremendous support of this event ensured that all the exercise objectives were met and also helped agency representatives gain a profound understanding of pollution response in Northeast Ohio. Your company truly embodies the Coast Guard ideals of teamwork, cooperation, and mission execution.

Sincerely,

J.W. Russell
Commander, U.S. Coast Guard
Commanding Officer