Training for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) took place Thursday at Buckingham County Middle School.

Buckingham Emergency Management Coordinator Cody Davis said the agencies involved with the training program included the American Red Cross, Buckingham County Sheriff’s Office, Buckingham County Emergency Management, Buckingham County Fire & EMS, Dominion Energy, ACP, Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Virginia State Police, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Virginia Department of Health, Virginia Department of Forestry, Williams Pipeline and Appomattox and Augusta counties.

The Virginia Department of Homeland Security’s Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium led the training.

He said the program was designed to address the importance of the pipeline system, pipeline basics, government roles and responsibilities in pipeline security, industry roles and responsibilities in pipeline security, possible security threats, indicators of suspicious activity and scenario-based training activities.

“My overall impression of the event was a very positive and reassuring one,” Davis said. “My key takeaway would be the importance of all of the represented agencies working together to ensure security and safety of the pipeline system.”

Davis said there are training programs scheduled for the future related to the ACP, and he said that prior to Thursday’s training, there have been numerous training opportunities between county first responders and industry partners such as the ACP.

Training for active threat training, which encompasses shootings and other emergencies, is set to be held at the BARN on Aug. 6 and training to focus on handling butane-related emergencies is scheduled for Aug. 24 at the Buckingham Branch Railroad.