Report a Marine (Chemical or Oil) Spill
Members of the public can report an incident by calling
1800 005 171 (within Tasmania).
Ship's masters, owners, charterers and agents must provide notification in accordance with statutory requirements. See Duty to Notify.
Background
Tasmania’s diverse coast and marine environments are among the State's most valued assets and include areas of World Heritage status or RAMSAR significance. One of the most serious risks our marine environment faces is pollution from oil or other hazardous or noxious substances.
Tasmania is an island State and is reliant on shipping activity. While international conventions and Australian laws have been developed to reduce the number of marine incidents, improve safety and prevent pollution, marine pollution incidents still remain a possibility.
What we do
Under the
Marine-related Incidents (MARPOL Implementation) Act 2020, the EPA is responsible for preparedness for and responding to oil and chemical spills in Tasmania. Activities that the EPA undertakes to ensure Tasmania is prepared in the event of an oil spill include:
- Developing and managing oil spill response capabilities in Tasmania
- Providing resources and support during marine oil spill response operations in Tasmania
- Developing and delivering appropriate training programs for marine oil spill response around the State
- Assisting ports and industry in developing marine oil spill contingency plans in line with
Tasmanian Marine Oil Spill Contingency Plan (TasPlan)
- Providing 24-hour on-call support for marine oil spills
- Developing national networks to ensure Tasmania is up to date in oil spill response techniques
- Maintaining the Oil Spill Response Atlas (OSRA)
- Raising community awareness about the impact of marine oil spills
Plans and Legislation
The Tasmanian Marine Oil Spill Contingency Plan (TasPlan) outlines the response and arrangements in place in the event of a spill into the Tasmanian marine environment, and a number of sub-plans sit under TasPlan.