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OR&R’s Emergency Response Division Responses in Fiscal Year 2020

During the past fiscal year, October 1, 2019 tthrough September 30, 2020, OR&R's Emergency Response Division was notified of 200 incidents and activated for 174 of those. 

 

Two people distributing boom into water from a small boat.
Golden Ray (St. Simons Sound Incident) responders practice boom deployment in St. Simons Sound, Georgia, Feb. 19, 2020. Boom is a floating barrier that is used to contain oil spills and protect shoreline from pollution. Image credit: U.S. Coast Guard.

82% were oil spills, 4% were chemical spills, and 14% were other incidents. These "other" incidents involved hurricanes, requests for search and rescue (SAR), marine debris events, dead whales, and other incidents where scientific support and forensic oceanographic modeling is requested. 2020 was one of the busiest years in the past decade despite the additional challenges of the current health emergency. These numbers do not include several larger incidents such as the sinking of the RO/RO Golden Ray near St. Simons Island, Georgia, that occurred on September 8, 2019. The response to that incident continued well into fiscal year 2020.  

Last updated Tuesday, November 8, 2022 1:45pm PST