Oil Spills and the Public - Publications

							                                               U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service


                                              Oil Spills and the
                                              Public
When a disaster occurs,                       the oil, and the tiny creatures living in   presented by spilled oil to plants and
                                              them die from ingestion or lack of air.     animals and their habitats.
people want to help.                          Every human footstep further compacts
Often, this is exactly                        the ground, forcing air out of the          Trained responders try to keep oil away
                                                                                          from animals and marshes with floating
                                              sediment and driving the oil deeper,
what is needed in a                           harming more of the tiny creatures’         barriers called booms. They try to haze
                                              habitat.                                    or encourage unoiled animals, usually
crisis. However, some-                                                                    waterfowl, to move to safe areas away
times the presence of                         In any case, an oil spill emergency is      from the spill.
                                              no place for onlookers. Everyone wants
untrained people,                             to help, but not everyone can. Un-          A rescue and treatment center is set up
                                              trained people can actually harm the        for animals injured by spilled oil. Oiled
however well-meaning,                         natural resources they want to help and     animals need trained people to collect,
really does not help,                         may even harm themselves while              clean and rehabilitate them in a facility
                                              trying, through exposure to the oil and     with space, ventilation, controlled
and it can even make                          its toxic fumes.                            temperature, and hot and cold water.
                                                                                          Professional bird rescue organizations
things worse. This is                         Crowds of people at a spill site divert     often have volunteers who have been
especially true in the                        the attention of law enforcement            trained in advance for oil spills.
                                              personnel, adding to the drain on
case of an oil spill.                         emergency resources and confusion at        So what can you do?
                                              the site. Wildlife or anything oiled may
A barge runs aground on a beach, a            present a serious human health risk and     • Please, stay away from the spill
ship slams into a bridge and suddenly         should only be handled by trained           area.
oil pours into the water and on the           experts.
shore. Depending on many factors like                                                     • Do not approach or touch an oiled
the type of oil and the weather, many         Organized spill response teams, con-        bird or animal. Listen for announce-
things can happen next.                       sisting of representatives from federal     ments of a Wildlife Hotline and call
                                              and state agencies, local groups, and       that number with the animal’s location.
If waterfowl come in contact with the         various industries respond to oil spills.
heavier oils, their feathers become                                                       • Watch for media announcements to
coated in oil, and they cannot keep           On the federal level, the U.S. Coast        learn if volunteers or donations of
warm or stay afloat. They cannot swim,        Guard takes the lead for coastal spills,    materials or money are needed for
so they hide on the shore. These              while the U.S. Environmental Protec-        animal rehabilitation.
vulnerable birds panic when ap-               tion Agency has the lead for inland
proached by people, and their attempts        spills. The appropriate state natural       For more information, contact:
to flee can result in physical injury.        resource agencies are active at all
                                              spills.                                     U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Bottom-dwelling creatures -- flounder,                                                    Regional Spill Response Coordinator
lobsters, clams, sea stars -- can die         The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,         300 Westgate Center Drive
from ingesting oil. They wash up onto         working in cooperation with federal         Hadley, MA 01035-9589
the shore or roll out to sea with the tide.   and state natural resource authorities,     Phone: (413) 253-8646
Beach sands and tidal flats can absorb        responds to the danger and injury           http://www.fws.gov
                                                                                                      New England Field Office 1998