U.S. Navy Ship Salvage Manual Volume 6 - Oil Spill Response

S0300-A6-MAN-060• Providing specialized environmental engineering and information management.1-5.5 Naval Environmental Protection Support Service (NEPSS). The NEPSS consists ofspecial offices in various commands tasked to provide environmental engineering, research, legalassistance, data management and information exchange services to Navy and Marine Corps activities.NEPSS addresses all forms of pollution; its organization includes the following activitieswith oil pollution prevention and spill response support responsibilities:• COMNAVFACENGCOM as the NEPSS manager.• Naval Engineering Field Divisions (EFDs) that provide field level expertise in environmentalengineering and legal support.• Naval Energy and Environmental Support Activity (NEESA), Port Hueneme, Californiathat maintains an activity information directory (AID), coordinates NEPSS actionsand manages NEPSS specialty offices.• Specialty offices and Navy laboratories, including:(1) The Marine Environmental Support Office (MESO) at the Naval Ocean SystemsCenter (NOSC), San Diego, California provides Navy-wide support relative toaquatic environmental protection.(2) The Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory (NCEL), Port Hueneme, California conductsenvironmental protection research and development with regard to shorefacilities.1-5.6 Salvor-NOSC Coordination. Salvors must notify the U.S. Navy command having NOSCresponsibility when performing work that could result in an oil spill to which the NOSC would berequired to respond. Such notification should be made as early as possible so the NOSC canensure personnel and equipment are available should a response be necessary. Potential spillsmust also be reported by telephone to the National Response Center.Likewise, the NOSC should request technical assistance from NAVSEA/SUPSALV wheneversuch assistance is needed to augment NOSC resources. Communications between the SUPSALVand NOSC organizations are most effective when they are initiated early during a response. Earlynotification by telephone should be encouraged wherever practical, with more formal means ofcommunication used when time is less critical.1-14