Reporting a Spill

The National Response Center is the sole national point of contact for reporting all oil, chemical, radiological, biological and etiological discharges into the environment anywhere in the United States and its territories.

In addition to gathering and distributing spill data for Federal On-Scene Coordinators and serving as the communications and operations center for the National Response Team, the NRC maintains agreements with a variety of federal entities to make additional notifications regarding incidents meeting established trigger criteria.

The NRC is staffed by Coast Guard personnel who maintain a 24-hour per day, 365-day per year telephone watch. NRC watch standers enter telephone reports of pollution incidents into the Incident Reporting Information System and immediately relay each report to the pre-designated Federal On-Scene Coordinator.

To contact the NRC, dial 1-800-424-8802 or 1-202-267-2675 or visit the NRC Web site.

Published: April 1, 2002