LEWISTON, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Local, state, and federal agencies are conducting emergency response exercises on the Niagara River and Lake Ontario on June 5 and 6 during the "Empire Challenge."

The New York Naval Militia does these exercises typically once or twice a year in the Hudson River or at Seneca Lake -- however, this time, they chose to use the Niagara River and Lake Ontario.

"Here you'll have several knots of water moving, you have the turbulence upriver where the power system is. So operating in that area is much more difficult. So it's the environmental piece, but also it's the border piece," said Jay Dutcher, the operations officer of the New York Naval Militia. "Illegal narcotics is a huge issue, so we're here with the Border Patrol as well and to integrate with them and to lear

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