Reporting Relationships of a Response Organization with the Responsible Party

ABSTRACT When a marine oil spill occurs there are critical challenges that fall into four categories—the Four Cs—that face the Responsible Party (RP): the Casualty, the Community, the Corporation, and the Cleanup. In the case of a company that has a corporate response team, it will be charged with the management of all four categories. In Canada, the detailed management of the Cleanup can be delegated to the Certified Response Organization (RO). However, a reporting relationship from the RO to the RP response management team must be established, both to ensure they keep each other informed and to avoid duplication or conflict in cleanup activities. Since the Cleanup is primarily a responsibility of the RP Operations Section, the reporting chain during the Initial Response Phase and Tactical Phase should be from the RO Spill Response Manager to the RP Operations Manager. Once the Cleanup is the only ongoing challenge, the RP team may be disbanded and only re-assembled for progress assessments of the RO work. During this Strategic Phase of the response, the RO Spill Response Manager will report directly to the RP On-Scene Commander or delegate.