Federal On-Scene Coordinator's Investigative Role

In the United States, the Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) in the role as Captain of the Port (COTP) is charged with investigating marine casualties resulting in oil spills in the coastal zone.² The FOSC is in the challenging position of working with the responsible party as a member of the Unified Command, while simultaneously investigating the incident. Complicating the FOSC's balancing act is the likelihood that other federal, state, and local agencies will have an interest in the investigation. The parties conducting investigations (Department of Justice, National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Coast Guard Investigative Service, Environmental Protection Agency investigators, and state and local investigators) report to their own senior officials and are not under the direction and control of the FOSC. This article will discuss, from a Coast Guard officer's perspective, the FOSC's conflicting roles as a member of the Unified Command working closely in cooperation with the responsible party to mitigate the incident, and as a federal officer supervising at least one of the investigations. The article will describe the dynamics of significant oil spill investigations and provide recommendations on how investigative agencies should work together to conduct thorough investigations while minimizing the impact on the Unified Command's goal of working cooperatively to mitigate the effects of the spill.