🛢️ Reported spills

What you're looking at

When there's an oil or chemical release, federal law requires it to be reported to the National Response Center (NRC) — a hotline run by the U.S. Coast Guard that takes these reports 24/7 and passes them to the agencies that respond (EPA, the state, etc.). We pull WV's reports from that public record.

• These are initial, unverified reports. They capture what a caller reported at the time — often before anyone has confirmed the amount, the cause, or even that it happened as described. Treat each as "a release was reported here," not a proven finding.
• Many look minor — and that's the point. A lot are small (a few gallons), or turn out to be nothing. We show them all anyway, because the value is the pattern: where releases cluster, how often, and what's involved. One report is noise; a hotspot is a signal.
• Locations are often approximate. Most reports lack precise coordinates, so we place them at their county center (shown as a hollow dot). Exact-located reports are filled.
• What happens after is usually not public. The state may sample and follow up, but that result rarely makes it back into an open dataset — one of the transparency gaps this project exists to help close.

Distinct from our curated Events (narrated pollution episodes, often with our own sensor data). Smell or see a release near you? Report it →, and for an emergency call 911 or WV DEP's spill line 1-800-642-3074.