Islands' Oil Spill Association

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Friday Harbor, WA
Islands' Oil Spill Association

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Need to report a spill? https://ecology.wa.gov/Footer/Report-an-environmental-issue/Report-a-spill

We are a non-profit, community-based oil spill response organization providing prompt, effective local oil spill response and prevention including oiled wildlife search & rescue throughout San Juan County in Washington state. IOSA is the only oil spill response organization located in the San Juan Islands and the only private, non-profit, community volunteer-based oil spill response organization in the Pacific Northwest.

11/05/2026

Local folks getting together, practicing and testing oil spill protection strategies in our community. Small acts that make a difference in our little realm. Big thanks to all those that came out for IOSA's last GRP deployment/test of 2026 at Spencer Spit Lagoon, Lopez Island.
Want to learn more about IOSA and get involved?
Join us at our community party 11/19 at Saltwater Farm on SJI by getting tickets at www.iosaonline.org/2026party
Come to our virtual Town Hall on December 9th by registering at: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/YHfr4Vw_QWe3-XxQ-8YjKQ #/registration

Everything you want to read at more always online at WWW.IOSAONLINE.ORG

10/30/2026

A boat owner in Bremerton was recently fined $279,000 by the Department of Ecology. The boat had been taking on water at the marina, and the bilge filled with diesel. Instead of calling it in, the owner pumped it into the water and asked a marina employee not to report it. About 123 gallons of diesel went into the marina. On top of the fine, the owner owes the state more than $78,000 for cleanup and damage assessment.
Most of that penalty didn’t come from the spill itself. It came from the days of harm that followed, and from the choice to hide it. Spills and accidents happen. What matters is whether you choose to hide it or report it and clean up your mistake.

PLEASE REPORT SPILLS TO:
📞 National Response Center: 1-800-424-8802
📞 Washington Emergency Management: 1-800-258-5990

Reporting is required by law, even for a small sheen. And an early call is what gets IOSA's boom in the water quickly and the damage contained. The longer oil sits, the farther it spreads and the harder it is on the shoreline and everything living along it. If you find oil in your bilge, don’t pump it overboard and don’t add soap. Soap is a dispersant and simply makes the oil sink and potentially makes things worse. Use absorbent pads, close the bilge pump switch, and call.

We’d all rather get a call about a small spill than find it on the beach three days later with dead wildlife. 🙏

🔗 https://komonews.com/news/local/bremerton-boat-owner-fined-279k-diesel-pumped-into-marina-department-of-ecology-bilge-filled-fuel

10/29/2026

Our Executive Director, Elaina Thompson, spoke at the International Oil Spill Science Conference (IOSSC) in Montreal earlier this month about community-led spill response and the work islanders have been doing together through IOSA since 1985. Thank you IOSSC for making space for a community voice, and thank you Orcas Island Community Foundation , for your LEAD Grant which made this trip possible.

There were a lot of great questions about how a community builds what we have here in IOSA: local volunteers, trained and ready, working on prevention and responding when something happens. Groups like IOSA are rare, and they are deeply important (and almost always missing) in spill recovery for coastal communities. This conference was a chance to listen and learn from people doing spill response work around the world, and a real reminder that there are a lot of good people out there trying to make the world a better place.

10/17/2026

Such a beautiful example of our community working together to make a better place for all. 🙏💝🌈☀️😇

09/27/2026

It's been a full year on the water and off it, drills, training, new gear, new faces stepping up. We wanted a night to just be together and say thank you. Join us November 19th at Saltwater Farm.

09/23/2026

Did you see IOSA out at Cayou Quay Marina last week? We were practicing spill response again. 😁
Someone at a regional exercise said something recently that stuck with us: "We need to train regularly so we don't lose our muscle memory for spill response. When there were spills all the time, we practiced all the time because we had to respond. Now that spills are rare, that's great for the environment, but it's not great for staying response ready."
That's exactly why IOSA works hard to get out there every month. Hitching trailers, launching boats, getting people and gear where they need to be. The more we do it, the more it feels like second nature. Did you know we've run more than 50 trainings since 2023 with over 700 participants?

Help keep us out on the water: www.iosaonline.org/donate

09/15/2026

In January 1992, a container ship bound for Tacoma lost cargo in a North Pacific storm. One container broke open and released 28,800 plastic bath toys: yellow ducks, red beavers, blue turtles, and green frogs. A Seattle oceanographer tracked them for years as they turned up in Alaska, Hawaii, and Japan. Some drifted into Arctic ice. Oil moves the same way. A small spill in one harbor can show up on a beach miles away. That is why spill prevention starts with every boater, every fuel dock, every bilge and every community member.

Remember these key things as you start to put your boat away for winter:
⭐Spill something/see something? Report any sheen or spill to USCG NRC at 800-424-8802 AND WA State at 800-OILS-911. They will call IOSA to respond locally.
⭐Keep your bilges clean with sorbent pads so that water leaks or rain don't cause pollution in our local marinas.
⭐Secure boats for winter carefully, never top of your tanks above 90% full, and remove any deck fuel or oil containers before our winter storms begin.

Happy "almost" fall from everyone at IOSA - and 📸 our shoreline scout rubber duck, taking the job very seriously.

08/16/2026

We're overwhelmed with gratitude for the incredible SJC Fair season, made possible by this amazing community! 🙏 Here are some heartwarming moments from our family to yours, showcasing the joy and wonder of our little ones thriving in this enchanting setting. Today is also the final chance to spread love and support through our SJICares campaign, uplifting IOSA readiness to protect our waterways for future generations to come!
❤ THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!❤
https://sjicf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/grant?grant_id=23038

08/14/2026

HAPPY FAIR FRIDAY, SAN JUAN ISLANDS!!!!
Feeling Festive? Gates will be opened soon, rides are almost ready, and that first elephant ear of the weekend is calling your name!
Feeling Generous? Here's the pitch again, because it matters twice: IOSA's spill response gear doesn't take weekends off. Every donation through SJICares keeps our boats fueled, our volunteers trained, and our crew ready to move the second something spills into these waters.
Donate to IOSA here: https://sjicf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/grant?grant_id=23038&grant_cycle_id=1396

Fair weekend is just getting started. We're standing by for the islands all weekend, and every day after. We couldn't do it without our volunteers or without our community behind our cause!

08/13/2026

HAPPY FAIR WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!!!
Feeling Festive? Ferris wheel selfies. Kettle corn hands. A schedule so packed you're eating dinner standing up!
Feeling Generous? Here's thirty seconds in the middle of it: IOSA's spill response crew runs on donations like yours; fuel, training, boom, boats, all of it, ready to move fast when something spills into these waters. That's what your SJICares donation funds this year.

Donate to IOSA here: https://sjicf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/grant?grant_id=23038&grant_cycle_id=1396

See you at the FAIR!!!!

Address

Friday Harbor, WA
98250

Website

http://www.iosaonline.org/, http://www.iosaonilne.org/GIVE2026

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