emergency response

In July, OR&R provided scientific support for 23 marine pollution and coastal emergencies— including 19 new incidents in seven states, one in Puerto Rico, and one international response in the Philippines. Seventeen of the new incidents were actual or potential oil spills, one was a chemical spill, and one involved tracking marine debris—a broken wind turbine blade.

NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration is providing important information to aid in tracking the path of wind turbine parts after the offshore wind energy company, Vineyard Wind, noticed a broken blade on one of its wind turbines offshore of Martha’s Vineyard.

This June, OR&R provided scientific support for 17 marine pollution and coastal emergencies—including thirteen actual or potential oil spills, two chemical spills, and one involved both oil and hazardous materials.

Over the course of the 62 day-response to the Francis Scott Key Bridge Marine Collapse, OR&R's scientific support team produced trajectory analyses, chemistry reports, and situational reports to support the U.S. Coast Guard's pollution control and abatement operations and prepare for potential impacts of a worst case release of the 1.5 million gallons of fuel that remained on board the M/V Dali.

During May, OR&R provided response support for 26 incidents, including 19 new incidents in 10 states. Eighteen of the new incidents were actual or potential oil spills, and one was a chemical spill in the Detroit River, Michigan.

This March, the Office of Response and Restoration provided scientific support for 26 marine pollution and coastal emergencies—including twelve actual or potential oil spills, two chemical incidents, and five other incidents, including two involving dead whales.

Last month, OR&R provided scientific support for 26 marine pollution incidents—including 15 new incidents that included an abandoned mystery drum in Puerto Rico and an international incident in the Red Sea. In our latest blog, view the full list of our response efforts in February.

Last month, OR&R provided scientific support for 25 marine pollution incidents—including 16 new incidents that included 10 actual or potential oil spills, five chemical incidents, and one “other”—a dead gray whale.

Last year, we provided scientific support for 162 new incidents — including 132 oil spills, 13 chemical spills, and 17 other incidents—such as severe storms, marine debris, and whale carcass drift requests. In our latest blog, we're taking a look back at our 2023 response efforts