Partners in emergency prevention

Last updated on May 12, 2023

Inter-agency collaboration is necessary to effectively prepare for and respond to an environmental emergency, such as a major oil spill.

Partnerships enable spill response agencies to share knowledge and resources, allowing for greater preparedness.

Environmental emergency partnerships

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy participates in various partnerships to increase the province’s spill prevention and response capacity.

Reconciliation with Indigenous Nations

The Environmental Emergency Program (EEP) has identified reconciliation and building relationships with Indigenous Nations to be a critical strategic priority.

Environmental emergency response is supported through collaboration and integration of Indigenous Nations knowledge and skills in mitigation, response and recovery. 

Review the Environmental Emergency Program Reconciliation with Indigenous Nations Strategy (PDF, 5.7MB) to learn more.


Cross-border partnerships

Pacific States/B.C. Oil Spill Task Force

The focus of the Pacific States B.C. Oil Spill Task Force is:

  • Fostering regulatory consistency
  • Sharing information and resources
  • Coordinating the development and implementation of new policies and programs to reduce the risk and impact of marine oil spills

Members of the task force include B.C., Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii.

Formed after the Nestucca and Exxon Valdez spills highlighted concerns shared by neighbouring jurisdictions, the task force encourages cooperation across borders.

Learn more about the Pacific States B.C. Oil Spill Task Force.

West coast marine oil spill reporting (1-800-OILS-911) 

The 'Spills aren’t Slick' campaign is a joint effort by B.C., Washington, Oregon and California to provide a single reporting phone number for spills on the Pacific West Coast.

The purpose of this single reporting phone number is to increase the number of spills that are reported through international collaboration.