Canada

United States

Private sector - NGOs

 U.S. - Canadian Pacific
Agreements

Initiatives

Actors
U.S. Pacific States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force
The U.S. Pacific States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force was formally created by a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) signed in 1989, following two west coast oil spill incidents. The first involved the barge Nestucca, which spilled oil off the coasts of Washington and British Columbia in December of 1988; the second incident was the catastrophic spill by the T/V Exxon Valdez in Alaska's Prince William Sound in March of 1989. These events highlighted the common concerns shared by the West Coast states and the Province of British Columbia related to spill risks from coastal vessel traffic routes, the need for cooperation across shared borders, and a shared commitment among West Coast citizens of both the U.S. and Canada to protect their unique marine resources . Some of the goals of the Task Force are:
  • to prevent oil spills on the west coast, both large spills that occur rarely but cause catastrophic impacts, and small spills that
    occur daily and have an equally devastating cumulative effect;
  • to coordinate communication, policy development, response capabilities, prevention and preparedness initiatives, and education in order to maximize efficiency of effort;
  • to learn from one another and share ideas and "products.
Canada's NPA
The clearing-house for Canada's National Programme Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities. A national programme to prevent marine pollution and protect coastal habitat from land-based activities. At this site, you can discover how land-based activities contribute to marine pollution and what Canada seeks to do about it.
Environmental Emergencies
Environment Canada is an active player in confronting the environmental aspects of emergencies. The mission of the Environmental Emergencies program is to reduce the frequency, severity and consequences of these events, through promoting preventive measures and preparedness, providing response advice and advancing science and technology, both in Canada and abroad. From this site one can go to Canada's Regional Environmental Emergency Team (REET), Environmental Technology Center (ETC) and Environmental Emergiencies Regional sites (see Pacific and Yukon).
Oil, Water and Chocolate Mousse
Oil, Water and Chocolate Mousse is an educational introduction to the problem of oil in the marine environment, from a Canadian perspective: what happens when oil is spilled in our waterways; how we prevent oil spills - both large and small; how we prepare for oil spills; and what Canadians can do to limit the environmental damage oil spills can cause.
Oiled Bird Rehabilitation Program
Environment Canada has responsibility for the protection of migratory bird species, and the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks for non-migratory species. As the basis of a strategy to establish an efficient large-scale rehabilitation capability throughout British Columbia, and with the combined efforts of EC, B.C. Environment, and the BCSociety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BCSPCA), a Memorandum Of Intent (MOI) on Oiled Bird Rehabilitation Program was developed. It provides guidance for large-scale oiled bird rehabilitation programs during a major marine oil spill. It establishes roles and responsibilities for government agencies and non-government organizations. It is based on the polluter-pays principle, whereby the polluter will be held accountable for the costs of rehabilitation programs. See also British Columbia Beached Bird Survey.
Canadian Coast Guard Environmental Response
The Canadian Coast Guard marine progams is a collection of marine programs and services: Search and Rescue; Boating Safety; Environmental Response; Icebreaking; Marine Navigation Services; Marine Communications and Traffic Services; and Navigable Waters Protection.The CCG Rescue, Safety and Environmental Response Program (RSER) works to make Canadian waters as safe and clean as possible. It also keeps the marine environment safe by monitoring and cleaning spills.
BC Environmental Emergency Management
British Columbia Environmental Emergeny Management is the management of environmental emergencies by the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, including Guidelines, Strategies, and Emergency Response Plans.
BC Beached Bird Survey
The goals of the Beached Bird Survey are to collect baseline information on the causes and rates of beached bird mortality, compare current rates with estimates from 10 years ago, and expand the coverage to a larger area of the BC Coast. The coastal waters of British Columbia support some of the highest densities of seabirds, waterfowl and shorebirds in the eastern North Pacific. The coast also supports a large amount of marine shipping traffic. There will be both major and minor spills of petroleum products on occasion, as well as chronic petroleum pollution. Monitoring the levels of chronic oiling in BC is important and beached bird surveys are an effective way of doing this.
NOAA Office of Response and Restoration
The NOAA Office of Response and Restoration, part of the NOAA National Ocean Service, offers a web site with tools and information for emergency responders and planners, and others working to understand and mitigate the effects of oil and hazardous materials in our waters and along the U.S. coasts. For oil spill responders: Job aids - software - ESI mapping - biological monitoring - the latest Incident News - historical incidents database - Exxon Valdez - oil and coral - reports, manuals, case histories. For chemical accident responders: About the CAMEO software - CAMEO Toolkit - Chemical Reactivity Worksheet. Toxic chemicals in coastal environments: Sediment guidelines - watershed tools - regional contaminants data - document library - for people concerned about cleaning up and restoring coastal ecosystems contaminated by toxic chemicals. For kids: Answers to your questions - experiments and projects - help for report writers - instructor's materials - the story on oil spills. Image gallery. Products to download.
NOAA Damage Assessment and Restoration Program
The mission of the Damage Assessment and Restoration Program (DARP), established in 1990, is to restore coastal and marine resources that have been injured by releases of oil or hazardous substances and to obtain compensation for the public's lost use and enjoyment of these resources. Activities address injuries resulting from long-term releases of hazardous substances and oil spills; catastrophic spills. primarily oil; and physical injury to National Marine Sanctuary resources (e.g., ship groundings on coral reefs).
EPA Oil Spill Learning Centre
The Oil Spill Learning Centre, as part of the Oil Program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides information about the program for preventing, preparing for, and responding to oil spills that occur in and around waters of the United States. The web site offers, inter alia, info on spill characteristics, threats from oil spills, response techniques, impacts on species and habitats, and the comprehensive PDF book "Understanding Oil Spills and Oil Spill Response". See also other EPA info on Oil Spills.
EPA Emergencies
The U.S. EPA Emergencies contains info on Oil Spills, Contingency Plans (including Oil Removal Contingency and Spill Prevention), Emergency preparedness and response.
U.S. Coast Guard National Response Centre
The primary function of the U.S. Coast Guard National Response Center is to serve as the sole national point of contact for reporting all oil, chemical, radiological, biological, and etiological discharges into the environment anywhere in the United States and its territories. In addition to gathering and distributing spill data for Federal On-Scene Coordinators and serving as the communications and operations center for the National Response Team, the NRC maintains agreements with a variety of federal entities to make additional notifications regarding incidents meeting established trigger criteria.
USCG Marine Safety and Environmental Protection
The web site of the U.S. Coast Guard's Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Protection offers documents and other information of general interest to the maritime community (regulations, rules, navigation info, etc.) with regard to safety and environmental protection. See regional Marine Safety Offices for the Pacific area. See also the National Maritime Center, which "maintains an active public and industry awareness outreach program aimed at communicating Coast Guard regulatory activites and policy guidelines".
Spills in U.S. Waters
Statistics of oil spills in U.S. waters (annual data and graphics), 1969-2000. Oil spill statistics for each year are presented in tabular format at the beginning of each section and include the following information: total number of spills and total volume in each category; mean (average), median and maximum spill size; and percentages.
Offshore Minerals Management
The Offshore Minerals Management (MMS), an agency of the U.S. Departement of the Interior, is responsible for managing offshore public lands. As part of this MMS is providing the public with technical information about offshore activities. MMS collects data on all facets of the offshore program and publish them online in various forms. The MMS regional offices also provide information specific to the operations in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska and offshore California. The California section of the MMS web site inclued among others detailed information about each of the platforms.
Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Division of Spill Prevention and Response
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Spill Prevention and Response, is Alaska's primary response organization for oil and hazardous substance releases. It implements state law to protect public health and the environment from direct or indirect effects of spills, guard the safety of persons involved, undertake or confirm the satisfactory cleanup and mitigation of spill effects and restoration of damages. • Exxon Valdez Oil Spill-Ten Years Later provides information about the many changes to oil spill prevention and response since the Exxon Valdez oil spill in March 1989. • See also the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council for more information about the ExxonValdez spill. The Oil Spill Trustee Council was formed to oversee restoration of the injured ecosystem through the use of the $ 900 million civil settlement.
California Office of Spill Prevention and Response
The California Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR). which is housed within the U.S. Department Fish and Game, is the lead State agency charged with oil spill prevention and response within California's marine environment. See, for example, info on oil spills in California.
Refinery Reform Campaign
The Refinery Reform Campaign is a U.S. national campaign seeking to clean up America's oil refineries and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. The web site is produced by the Texas SEED Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing pollution and promoting clean energy.
Ocean Conservancy
Ocean Conservancy (formerly Center for Marine Conservation, CMC) is the largest and oldest organization in the U.S. dedicated solely to protecting the oceans. The Ocean Conservancy combines science-based advocacy, grassroots activism, litigation, education and outreach to find lasting solutions to issues affecting our oceans and all marine life. The Ocean Conservancy continues to oppose legislation that provides incentives or encourages offshore oil and gas exploration and development.
Sierra Club
The agenda of the Sierra Club National Marine Wildlife and Habitat Committee includes permanent protection of environmentally sensitive areas now covered by a moratorium on offshore oil leasing and development.
Hawa'ii Oil Spill Center
The Hawaii Oil Spill Center (HSC) is dedicated to oil spill emergency response preparedness, and is wholly funded by the member companies of the Clean Islands Council and the Marine Spill Response Corporation. Members are private companies mostly shipping companies and some electricity utilities.
American Petroleum Institute
The American Petroleum Institute (API) represents America's oil and natural gas industry and has more than 400 members involved in all aspects of this industry. The members of the API "are dedicated to continuous efforts to improve the compatibility of our operations with the environment while economically developing energy resources and supplying high quality products
and services to consumers". The API Energy Consumer Site includes general info on oil and natural gas, whereas the Energy Professional Site (including production statstics, technology, etc.) targets the industry and policy-makers.