Incident Responses for February 2025

Posted Tue, 04/08/2025 - 09:16

Every month, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration’s (OR&R) Emergency Response Division provides scientific expertise and services in support of spills and other coastal and ocean emergencies. Our support ranges from producing oil spill trajectories that estimate where a spill may spread; to identifying possible effects on wildlife and fisheries; to estimating how long oil may stay in the environment. This support is to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) as the federal lead for coastal zone spills, and also assists other Unified Command members including state and industry leads for response operations. We also receive requests to track and model other floating objects, such as log booms or shipping containers that have broken free, whale carcasses, fish die-offs, and algal blooms. 

So far in 2025, OR&R has responded to 34 incidents. In February, OR&R provided response support for 22 incidents, including 17 new incidents in 11 states. Sixteen of the new incidents were actual or potential oil spills, including a plane crash and a sunken fishing vessel (that were also search and rescue support efforts), and one was a chemical incident (a sulfur dioxide release from an oil refinery).

OR&R staff prepared 103 incident reports and documents, including four fate and trajectory analyses. Seven of the incidents this month were unknown volumes, but 10 of the incidents had volume estimates. Cumulatively, these incidents posed an approximate risk of more than 47,000 gallons of oil and 1,000 pounds of chemicals.

(Note: All spill volumes are approximate and based on initial information that may be updated after further investigation.)

Here are some of the incidents we worked on during February.

Tarballs, South Florida

OR&R supported the U.S. Coast Guard when Florida beachgoers began reporting tarballs on nearshore waters from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach. OR&R scientists provided trajectory analyses to help identify the source of the pollution and a summary of environmental resources that could be at risk from oiling.

Tarballs along a stretch of beach.
Tarballs along a stretch of beach in South Florida, February 22-23, 2025. Image credit: U.S. Coast Guard.

On February 8, the USCG contacted the NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC) to report that tarballs had been observed in the water nearshore from Fort Lauderdale Beach to West Palm Beach, Florida. Swimmers were being exposed to an oily substance that was difficult to get off. The USCG sent a team to investigate and acquire samples and scheduled an overflight to obtain aerial observations. A number of beaches were closed as a precautionary measure.

OR&R oceanographers studied the currents and winds to assess possible movement of the tarballs over time and projected in the future. Without a specific time and location for a possible release of oil, the team tested different spill scenarios to get a sense of a likely source and timing of the spill. They considered the possibility of oil leaking from a sunken shipwreck — possibly one among those identified in NOAA's Remediation of Underwater Legacy Environmental Threats (RULET) project.

OR&R continues to work with the local USCG sector in Miami to document and compare samples from this incident with samples from some earlier mystery spill events affecting the same area. To date, no source has been identified and a stationary source could not be confirmed based on chemical comparisons of the collected samples.

A reasonable if not probable cause is that the oil was released from transient vessels. USCG identified a couple of potential ship candidates that moved through the area that they are investigating further.

Tarball on a South Florida beach.
A person rests their finger next to a tarball on a beach to estimate the size.

Additionally, OR&R and the USCG Marine Safety Lab have been collaborating with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, which has been conducting research on several past incidents on southeast Florida beaches. This information, along with chemical analyses for any similar incidents in the future, should help to determine if there is a potential common source.

Sulfur Dioxide Released at Pascagoula, Mississippi Refinery

OR&R provided a hazard assessment and threat analysis when an estimated 1,000+ pounds of sulfur dioxide was released from the Chevron refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

On February 21, the USCG contacted the NOAA SSC regarding a reported release of an estimated 1,026 pounds of sulfur dioxide from the Chevron Pascagoula refinery. The SSC provided a hazard assessment and threat analysis using several components of the CAMEO® suite of chemical response tools: ALOHA®, CAMEO Chemicals, and MARPLOT®.

A screenshot of a model run from the air hazard modeling program ALOHA® for a chemical release from a Mississippi refinery. The screenshot shows color coordinated threat zones atop of the area's map.
A model run from the air hazard modeling program ALOHA® for a direct source release of more than 1,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide over 15 minutes. Chevron Refinery at Pascagoula, Mississippi; February 21, 2025. Image credit: NOAA.

Sulfur dioxide, a colorless gas with a strong suffocating odor, is very toxic by inhalation and may irritate the eyes and mucous membranes. However, due to the speed and direction of the wind at the time of the release, there were no impacts to responders or the public.

The release was reported as lasting 15 minutes, with the flare back in operation following it. Flaring refers to the release and burning of excess or waste gases produced during the process of oil refining.

Here is the complete list of February’s incidents. Click on the links to find out more: