Volunteers at Oil Spill Cleanups: Guidance for On-Scene Coordinator1

Abstract

ABSTRACT Contamination of waters, beaches, shorelines, and wildlife after oil spills is the subject of increasing public concern, especially in the wake of recent large spills receiving extensive media attention. In many areas, members of local communities have demonstrated their concern by arriving at the sites of oil spills and volunteering to participate in efforts to clean up affected areas. The volunteers often arrive in large numbers and are usually untrained in the mechanisms of oil spill response and cleanup. The National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) specifies that a designated federal on-scene coordinator (OSC) coordinate and direct federal activities at the site of certain response and removal actions, including the way in which volunteers will be used. What is crucial to OSCs is distinguishing between those people who fall under the legal concept of “volunteer” and those who are offering to provide gratuitous services. Accepting voluntary services, as opposed to gratuitous services, presents a dilemma in the form of liability to both the government and OSC. This discussion focuses on statutory requirements that OSCs must follow at the site of an oil cleanup, the difference between “volunteer” and “gratuitous” service, and liability when accepting these services. The NCP specifies that OSCs identify ways in which volunteers be used, and recent oil spill cleanup efforts in three states provide examples of the way in which gratuitous service workers can be used to make significant contributions.