CAMARILLO : Trainees Wade Into Spill Lesson

Thirty-five California Conservation Corps trainees applied three days of classroom learning in oil spill response to a simulated version of the real thing Friday.

Donning protective yellow suits that made them sweat in the afternoon sun, the trainees laid a rope across Calleguas Creek that would stop crude oil from spreading downstream. And they built a dam out of sandbags to protect sensitive estuaries from the toxic substance.

But the “oil,” which supposedly was spilled from the Ventura Freeway into the creek at the foot of the Conejo Grade, was only popcorn, and the trainees’ lives were never in danger.

Still, the drill prepared them for the day when they might find themselves cleaning up an actual spill and facing the possibility of lethal contamination.

“It doesn’t seem (dangerous) when you’re out playing with popcorn, but when you’re out there, wading in oil up to your knees, I’d think it would be pretty gnarly, especially in the ocean,” said Beth Burnham, 20, of Santa Barbara.

The trainees went through all the steps of decontamination. They were washed, rinsed and dried. Their two sets of gloves were peeled off along with their outer suit. The duct tapeplaced between their gloves and sleeves and between their boots and leg bottoms also was removed.

Getting a hands-on experience “feels great,” said Jaymar Enriquez, 19, of Moreno Valley. “It’s like you’re learning new things that you never knew about.”

The Camarillo center, one of 16 throughout California, accepts youths ages 18 to 23 into its one-year program. They attend courses and work outdoors, cleaning up brush, building and improving hiking trails and providing support for firefighters or emergency response teams during fires, floods and earthquakes. Trainees earn minimum wage for their work, though they pay for room and board.

Corps spokesman Nacho Pina said officials at the center, which was slated to be eliminated because of state budget cuts, are awaiting the outcome of budget deliberations to find out if the center will be spared.

Some trainees enter the program to get away from areas troubled by gang activity, others to learn discipline and obtain job skills for firefighting, law enforcement or forestry, Pina said.

Philip Hornbeck, 21, of South-Central Los Angeles joined the program 13 months ago to get away from an area riddled with gang warfare.

Hornbeck said he wanted “to get my life straightened out. To get a life, away from all the trouble. . . . It’s a challenge. I like it a lot. It makes you work hard.”