Oil Spill Response

This morning I had occasion to call the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Response Center to report an oil sheen I discovered on the Providence River while walking in Providence River Park to the bus stop where I usually catch the bus heading for East Providence.

One interesting thing about the call: when the center phone was answered, the first thing I heard was a recorded message saying that, if I had any suggestions, solutions, or other inquiries regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, I should call 866-448-5816.

This is not the first time I’ve called the National Response Center to report a waterborne spill, although it has been quite a few years since I have done so. I have not always been available for return calls, though, and this time I received two – one from an intermediate center of some type and one from the local Marine Safety Office. I could not give them a lot of information – I gave the size of the spill (about a half mile long and about a yard wide, although I believe it was longer than that), the location (along the east bank, between the old Route I-195 bridge and downtown), and the weather conditions (clear, temperature in low 60’s, winds almost calm, tide coming in). One question I could not answer was the source of the spill (I’m not even sure if it came from the Woonasquatucket River or the Mosshasuck River, both of which combine to form the Providence River).

The National Response Center, by the way, serves as the sole national point of contact for reporting all discharges (oil, chemical, radiological, biological, etc.) into the environment anywhere in the United States and its territories. A call to the center triggers a response by the National Response System, which is the government's mechanism for emergency response to discharges of oil and the release of chemicals into the navigable waters or environment of the United States and its territories. When the system was first set up, this system focused on oil spills and selected hazardous polluting substances discharged into the environment. However, it has since been expanded by other legislation to include discharges of all types of hazardous substances and wastes.

This response center is primarily concerned with Federal response, although in many cases there is a state and/or local response. When there is a multi-agency response, the Incident Command System is used to ensure cooperation and to ensure each agency carries out its own responsibilities.

For any spill in navigable waters, by the way, the U.S. Coast Guard is the lead Federal agency.

For more information about the National Response Center, please visit:

     National Response Center