The U.S. Coast Guard in the Ohio River Valley has been spread thin, lately, responding to major natural and man-made disasters. Those include of course the fatal floods in Nashville, that also threatened to burst giant oil tanks and cause harmful pollution, as well as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But Commander Andrew Tucci says the Guard, which would be responsible, in part, for any spills in the Ohio River, says it’s working in concert with several agencies.“And of course the Coast Guard is not the only responder. Whenever we respond we’re doing that in cooperation with state officials, with local authorities and with other agencies such as the EPA. In fact, we conduct exercises with all of those groups on a regular basis," says Tucci.Tucci says the Guard recently conducted an exercise off the coast of Maine designed to simulate a massive oil spill. Lessons learned there are being applied in the Gulf.