Staged at Van Pugh Park, "Operation Joint Response" included on-the-water and on-shore exercises intended to promote interagency cooperation in the event of a large scale water-borne accident on Lake Lanier.
Such drills are part of the National Incident Command System standards that are used nation-wide in natural and man-made events such as Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Oil spill.
Participating agencies included the Hall County Fire Department Dive Team, the Hall sheriff's office Dive Team and Marine Patrol, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, TowBoat/US Lake Lanier and the state Department of Natural Resources.
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