Information on Oil Pollution in Buzzards Bay
Related pages: Oil Spill Training | Reporting Violations | 2013 Oil Pollution Action Plan | Quick Facts about Buzzards Bay. | Massachusetts Oil Spill Law
One focus of the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program is to address chronic and catastrophic discharges of hydrocarbons to Buzzards Bay. This page links contains links to initiatives related to oil pollution that have been the focus of the Buzzards Bay NEP and our partners.
Factoid: More than 2 billion gallons of oil, gasoline, and other hydrocarbons are shipped through Buzzards Bay annually.
The Coast Guard is the lead authority for managing oil spills in Buzzards Bay, but at the time of the 2003 Bouchard oil spill, the municipalities of Buzzards Bay, under the aegis of the Buzzards Bay Action Committee, and with assistance of the Buzzards Bay NEP, had developed this oil spill contingency plan for first action and cooperation until the Coast Guard arrives on scene. Read this original Buzzards Bay Oil spill contingency plan. Read the 2001 Buzzards Bay Oil Spill Response Manual (184 kb pdf file).
After the Bouchard Oil spill, the citizen group, The Buzzards Bay Coalition worked with Buzzards Bay municipalities, DEP, and the Coast Guard to develop a new more comprehensive Buzzards Bay Geographic Response Plan for Oil-Spill Mitigation.
Links
US Coast Guard National Response Center
NOAA Oil Spill Information at your fingertips
Coast Guard Marine Casualty Reports
NOAA Office of Oil Spill Response and Restoration page
US EPA Oil Spill Prevention and control
Special note on oil units of measure and converting units
1 barrel of oil= 42 gallons;
1 US ton (= short ton) of oil is roughly 6.3 barrels or 264.6 gallons (but varies with density of the oil; a No. 2 fuel oil might equal 272 gallons whereas No. 6 fuel oil might equal 248 gallons)
Weight to volume estimate is based on a medium crude oil. There are more gallons in a ton of a light hydrocarbon, like gasoline, and less gallons in a heavy hydrocarbon, like No. 6 fuel oil.
SPECIAL NOTE about the Argo Merchant: The Argo Merchant tanker oil spill disaster of Dec. 15, 1976, did not occur in Buzzards Bay as sometimes noted on some websites. It occurred southeast of Nantucket Island off Cape Cod about 50 miles southeast of Buzzards Bay. The oil spill largely headed out into the Atlantic Ocean. The erroneous statement that this spill occurred in Buzzards Bay is repeated on a number of web sites, including a few government sites, and is sometimes misreported in the press. Read the action plan above for information on some past oil spills in Buzzards Bay.