Oil Spill Training and Oil containment equipment grants
Local Training and Grants
Since the early 1990s, the Buzzards Bay NEP has been providing financial assistance to Buzzards Bay communities to better prepare them in their efforts to provide a “first response” to oil spills on land and water. Specifically, the Buzzards Bay NEP has paid for training of municipal officials at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and we have also provided numerous grants for oil spill containment equipment like booms, absorbent pads, manhole covers, and cold weather suits. We discontinued this assistance in 2004 when DEP agreed to fund training and provide equipment using the fees collected after the passage of the Massachusetts Oil Spill Act in 2004, as a result of the 2003 Bouchard No. 120 oil spill.
Emergency Response
What should you do if you discover an oil spill and there appears to be no government officials on scene?
1) Call your fire department and report the spill (in most towns the fire department can be reached by dialing 911). Generally they will begin reporting the spill to other municipal departments and state agencies once they arrive on scene, but it would help for you to go on to steps 2 and 3.
2) Call Massachusetts DEP emergency spill toll-free hotline at 1-888-304-1133.
3) For coastal spills, or land based spills that are near the coast and could drain to the Bay via storm drains, call the US Coast Guard National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.
By calling all these parties you help ensure a quick and favorable response to spills of oil or other toxic materials.