Oil Spill Response

Angel Island 2007 Oil Spill Clean Up

CCC crews are trained for quick response to clean up oil spills and rescue birds and wildlife.

The CCC’s solid reputation for emergency response on fires and floods prompted a callout in the early 1980s for our Corpsmembers to assist with oil spill cleanups. Crews rescued birds and wildlife from numerous spills in the San Francisco Bay and throughout the state.

After the 1989 Exxon Valdez grounding, the CCC began to explore the possibility of greater involvement in cleanup and recovery efforts. Subsequently, the CCC received a grant from BP to develop an oil spill response training program and curriculum that initially prepared two hundred corpsmembers in Humboldt and Ventura Counties for deployment.

Since then, the CCC has worked closely with the Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) program to routinely train our Corpsmembers. OSPR developed the new Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) 24-hour Site Worker manual used for training corpsmembers statewide.

The goal is for Corpsmembers to recognize, evaluate, and protect themselves from hazards commonly found at wastes sites. The CCC annually conducts statewide 40-hour HAZWOPER training with Corpsmembers. The Corps is committed to providing the best possible training to its Corpsmembers and staff, and to making crews readily available to respond where needed in California.