Response

An effective response is an amalgam of orchestrated actions by private and/or public entities that have been trained to control, contain, and clean up an oil spill as quickly and effectively as possible.  For all oil spills in navigable waters of the U.S., including State and Federal offshore waters, the U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port is the designated Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) and has the authority to direct most spill response activities.  Based upon the current Memorandum of Agreement between the MMS and USCG – OCS-03: Oil Discharge Planning, Preparedness, and Response (582.90 KB PDF file), however, MMS has primary responsibility related to spill abatement, and facility shutdown and/or startup.

All oil spills that occur in State and Federal waters must be immediately reported to the National Response Center (1-800-424-8802).  Oil spills of one barrel or more that occur in State and Federal waters must be reported to MMS without delay.  Regional and district staff are available 24-hours per day to receive reports of oil spills, and are also on call to provide information on offshore energy infrastructure and to assist the FOSC during response operations.  For current contact information, go to the NTLs web page here on the MMS web site to locate the regional office of interest.