Response Department

The Incident Management Division executes all of Sector's search and rescue operations, pollution incidents, and security incident response operations. This includes coordinating Federal, state, and local partners to jointly respond and mitigate the effects of maritime threats and vulnerabilities, and coordinating with the Coast Guard Auxiliary and other maritime stakeholders to ensure the continuity of safety, security, and environmental protection response operations. One of the primary missions of the Incident Management Division is emergency response to pollution incidents. This includes containment and clean-up of oil discharges and hazardous substances introduced into the navigable waters of the United States.

Whether the incident involves a few gallons of diesel from a pleasure boat or thousands of barrels of crude oil from a tank barge, our pollution responders use the best tools and contract the best equipment and personnel to clean up the spill and lessen environmental damage. Our personnel are trained in Incident Command System procedures and carry the qualifications of Pollution Responder and Federal On-Scene Coordinator Representative. By all available means, we ensure persons responsible for discharges are contacted and directed to initiate mitigation and clean-up action. In a joint effort to minimize damage to the environment caused by pollutants, the Sector coordinates response efforts to spills with other involved agencies, including other Federal, State and local partners in accordance with the Area Contingency Plan.

The Enforcement Division plans and coordinates all Enforcement of Laws and Treaties, and Port Waterways Coastal Security Missions; provide specialized and recurring training to personnel; provide and maintain equipment; and develop, implement, and evaluate exercises. This includes ensuring that there are sufficient personnel trained/qualified and available to safely and effectively perform required missions; all mission critical and assigned assets are available and operationally ready for use; infrastructure is appropriately designed, maintained, and in place to support required missions; and appropriate information and guidance is available, current, and accessible to execute required missions.

To contact the Incident Management Division or talk with a Federal On-Scene Coordinator, please contact our Command Center at 866-299-8031.