Oil Spill Preparedness Yields to Homeland Security

By Mary M. Cerullo, Associate Director, Friends of Casco Bay

“Beyond the noticeable changes in leadership and prevention activities, there is another troubling sign. On three occasions this past year when I tried to report spills to the Coast Guard’s National Oil Spill Hotline, the phone line was repeatedly busy. It is now also the Homeland Security Hotline.”

Casco Baykeeper Joe Payne

Coast Guard vessel passing in front of oil storage tanks in South Portland, Maine

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»Casco Baykeeper Joe Payne will never forget the day in 1996 when the oil tanker Julie N, loaded with 8.8 million gallons of fuel oil, struck a granite abutment as it eased through a drawbridge on the way to Portland Harbor, Maine. Nearly 180,000 gallons of oil spilled into Casco Bay, creating the worst spill in the harbor’s history. Thanks to the Coast Guard’s leadership in preparing the maritime community

for such a disaster, an unprecedented 78 percent of the spilled oil was recovered. More than a decade later, the collaboration that led to the successful cleanup is threatened.

Until September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard was the lead partner in coordinating oil spill preparedness and response, trusted both by environmental groups and the oil industry. Now its emphasis has changed to Homeland Security, leaving the Coast Guard with too few resources and too many missions to work proactively on prevention. Fifty-four percent of the Coast Guard’s requested budget for 2007 is allocated to Homeland Security.