The $500,000 exercise, code-named `Exercise Weatherbird', will bring together more than 100 locals from various agencies and Government and almost 100 overseas officials and observers.

Government environmental engineer Dr. Tom Sleeter, with the assistance of marine and ports director Ron Ross, will head up the Bermuda team.

"All systems are go,'' Dr. Sleeter said . "We have been working on this for months and we are looking forward to a successful exercise.'' The three-day oil spill exercise, which gets underway Tuesday, will have three distinct phases, he added.

"On the first day we will exercise the actual communications systems and local resources that we have here in Bermuda to respond to a large oil spill,'' he explained. "We will be using the guidelines laid out in Bermuda's Marine Pollution Contingency Plan.'' Dr. Sleeter will be the on-scene Commander at the Harbour Radio post. Some 60 participants will be deployed, in more than a dozen boats, to move several thousand feet of boom to key positions off the East End of the Island.

All of Wednesday's, as well as Thursday morning's, activities will take place at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research in the form of a `table top' exercise.

This part of the project will focus on managing spills and coordinating all of the different parties involved -- including Government, ship owner and insurance companies.

Exercise Weatherbird will wrap up on Thursday.

GOVERNMENT GVT