Coast Guard response to oil spills: trying to do too much with too little

Technical Report · Tue May 16 04:00:00 EDT 1978

OSTI ID:6570168

Approximately 10,000 and 10,600 oil pollution incidents occurred in American waters during calendar years 1975 and 1976. These incidents resulted in 14.3 and 23.1 million gallons of oil being spilled, respectively, during these years. One spill of about 7.3 million gallons was the major cause for the increase between the years. GAO reviewed Coast Guard effectiveness in containing and cleaning up oil spills at five of its districts encompassing the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Eastport, Maine, to Brownsville, Texas. The Great Lakes, Pacific, and inland Coast Guard districts were excluded from the review because of the relatively small volume of spills reported in those areas for 1976. Although overall the Coast Guard did an effective job in responding to most oil pollution incidents, there were opportunities for the Coast Guard to have been more effective in 38 percent of the oil pollution incidents GAO examined.

• Research Organization: General Accounting Office, Washington, DC (USA). Community and Economic Development Div.
• OSTI ID: 6570168
• Report Number(s): PB-280911; CED-78-111
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020900* -- Petroleum-- Environmental Aspects
520200 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CLEANING
CONTAINMENT
FUNCTIONS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
OIL POLLUTION CONTAINMENT
OIL SPILLS
PLANNING
POLLUTION CONTROL
RESPONSE FUNCTIONS
US COAST GUARD
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA