The Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) provides critical scientific support to protect our coastal communities following natural disasters and other incidents that result in marine pollution. Within OR&R, the Emergency Response Division (ERD) provides scientific expertise and services to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) on everything from running oil spill trajectories that model where the spill may spread, to identifying possible effects on wildlife and fisheries, and estimating how long the oil may impact coastal communities and ecology. Additionally, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) supports national and international partners to respond to large debris caused by major disasters within communities at risk of and responding to impacts from severe weather. At the end of each year, we reflect on the response events and activities that OR&R supported.

In 2024, we provided scientific support to the USCG, U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Department of State, as well as other federal responders for a wide range of scenarios—remotely when possible, and on-scene when needed.
The first call of 2024 came on January 4. Emergency management offices around Corpus Christi, Texas, received multiple reports of an unknown noxious chemical odor. The odor was reported in at least seven counties. OR&R and the National Weather Service were asked to conduct air plume trajectory modeling to assist in locating the source. The source was later identified to be 300 barrels of a crude oil and diesel mixture with elevated sulfur content that spilled at the Port of Victoria, Texas. Fortunately, the oil remained in secondary containment around the facility and no oil entered the harbor. The source was found 0.2 miles from the OR&R modeling prediction.
The last incident of the year was also in Texas. On December 17, the 600-foot M/V Dalma discharged 650 gallons of marine gas oil (MGO) into the Neches River in the area of Beaumont, Texas during heavy fog. MGO is a distillate fuel similar to marine diesel. We provided information on the likely trajectory and evaporation of the fuel.Throughout 2024, OR&R continued support for several incidents that took place in previous years. In addition, OR&R provided scientific support for 177 new incidents, including 133 oil spills, 19 chemical spills, and 25 other incidents—such as severe storms, marine debris, and whale carcass drift requests. We still see novel response challenges. Modeling of a broken wind turbine blade was a first for OR&R this year! We predicted the trajectory of a broken blade from an offshore windfarm as the blade drifted toward Martha’s Vineyard.

Some incidents involved both chemicals and oil, such as the 948-foot M/V Dali that struck and toppled the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The ship had over 1.5 million gallons for fuel onboard, and multiple hazardous material containers were damaged and leaking. Over the year, OR&R staff prepared over 1,848 new incident reports and documents. In terms of complexity, the Dali was probably the biggest effort for our staff, with 167 incident reports and postings, including 15 trajectory products.
It’s difficult to determine the total amount of oil and chemicals spilled over the course of the year. Many incidents have approximate volumes for potential discharges or, in the case of mystery spills, some may have no estimate. Cumulatively, OR&R supported response to these 2024 incidents that with good volume estimates, posed a risk of more than 45 million gallons of oil. It is important to note that all spill volumes are approximate and based on initial information that may be updated after further investigation. OR&R also supported responses involving over 27,000 tons of various chemicals. These estimates do not include oil and chemical spills during the 2024 hurricane season or other natural disasters. The estimates also don’t include the various containers and bulk cargoes carried at sea that might have been at risk, such as a container ship in distress off of Monterey, California that lost 24 containers near the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
OR&R’s incident response work often is in the aftermath of disasters. Throughout 2024, the Emergency Response Division and the Marine Debris Program collectively responded to six Hurricanes (Milton, Helene, Francine, Ernesto, Debby, Beryl) that resulted in oil and chemical spills and large-scale marine debris. Additionally, in Alaska, OR&R responded to three severe weather events: a landslide, a flood, and multiple vessels that sank under the weight of a heavy snow storm.
During a disaster, once ERD determines there is no continued threat of oil or chemical impacts, MDP takes the lead on finding effective ways to assist state and local partners in removing large debris. Disaster-related debris can include abandoned and derelict vessels, construction debris, fishing gear, and household waste. These removal projects often take place after the initial response and extend into long-term recovery projects.
While 2024 was not quite a record year for OR&R, it was certainly a busy year. (Over the past 10 years, we have averaged 175 incidents annually). Most of our responses are in the U.S., but we also provided support for seven international or transboundary incidents at the specific request of those nations, including events in the Red Sea, the Black Sea, Samoa, Canada, and the Philippines.
In our end-of-the-year tally listed below, we break down our responses by the type of event, whether oil spills, chemical spills, or other events. In 2024, OR&R responded to incidents in 25 states and three territories (Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico), with the most responses in Alaska and Washington (27 each), Louisiana (25), Texas (20), and California (14).
The 2024 incidents included the following:
(Note that these add up to more than 177 because some incidents may be counted in more than one category, such as an international tanker accident.)
- 21 commercial fishing vessels
- 16 facility incidents
- 16 mystery spills
- 10 freighter accidents
- 10 production platforms and wellhead leaks
- 10 tanker and barge accidents
- 9 pipeline spills
- 9 abandoned and derelict vessel cases (some involved multiple vessels)
- 9 natural disasters (6 hurricanes, 1 landslide, 1 flood, 1 snowstorm, each with multiple spills)
- 7 tugboat accidents
- 7 fuel terminal/tank farm spills
- 7 yachts and other pleasure craft
- 7 international incidents
- 6 whale trajectories (stranded and dead whales)
- 4 military vessel spills (U.S. Navy, USCG)
- 4 truck accidents
- 3 search and rescues
- 3 wind farm incidents
- 3 research vessel incidents
- 3 bridge allisions (i.e., collisions with a stationary object)
- 2 airplane crashes and spills
- 2 train accidents
- 2 mystery drums
- 2 container spills (each with multiple shipping containers lost overboard)
- 1 dielectric fluid spill
- 1 marina fire
- 1 ammonia discharge (fish processing plant)
- 1 mine tailing pond accident
- 1 ice pad accident (spill on Alaska’s North Slope)
- 1 drug investigation
- 1 power plant spill
- 1 noxious odor incident
- 1 autonomous vehicle
Looking ahead to 2025, OR&R continues to prepare for—and remains ready to respond to—accidents, natural biological incidents, severe weather occurrences, and other disasters.