State Police Emergency Response Unit News

The government has a plan for responding to your oil spill. Do you? In February, due to a collision between a tug boat and a tank barge, approximately 31,500 gallons of crude oil were released into the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River was closed down for two days and the residents of St. Charles Parish sat on pins and needles, waiting to find out if their drinking water would be contaminated. Thankfully, the drinking water was not affected, there were no reports of serious environmental damage and the River re-opened several days after the closure. It doesn’t always and happily, however. Unfortunately, the potential for a spill like this is always present when operating vessels.

The blowout aboard the Deepwater Horizon and the resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico captured the attention of both the public and regulators. As a result of this incident, both the government and the general public have developed opinions as to how such an oil spill should be avoided, contained and cleaned up. Now, even a small spill can become front page news and your company’s operations and policies will be scrutinized by the government, media and the general public. As such, it is important to develop a clear response plan to a spill before one happens.