Preparing for Spills

Oil spills occur despite efforts to prevent them. They happen on land and in water, during the day and at night, on warm days and cold, under clear skies and in the rain and snow. They vary in size, from just a few hundred gallons to the millions of gallons. Preparing a timely and coordinated response to such an emergency of undefined magnitude that can happen any where, at any time, and in any kind of weather is an enormous challenge that requires significant planning and training.

Two principal elements of EPA's oil spill preparedness program are developing and coordinating contingency plans and conducting oil spill prevention and response training. Well-designed facility, local, area, regional, and national contingency plans assist response personnel in their efforts to contain and clean up any size spill by providing information that the response teams will need before, during, and after an oil spill occurs. Training ensures that emergency responders, whether they are facility personnel, response contractors, or state and local government officials, know the what, when, and how of oil spill response.