Emergency Response and Spill Prevention

Spills in Connecticut are reported to the Emergency Response Unit of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). DEEP's Emergency Response and Spill Prevention page, with a footer reading "Content last updated July 2026", says to report spills or other environmental emergencies 24 hours a day at 860-424-3338 or toll free at 1-866-DEP-SPIL (1-866-337-7745). It defines a spill as any oil or petroleum products, chemicals, wastes or other potentially dangerous materials that are released in any manner.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name state spill records among its standard sources. For a Connecticut property, a spill report is the record that a release was reported and when, and the documents DEEP holds with it can show what was done. Four details from DEEP's pages help.

• Reporting is immediate and by phone. DEEP's Reporting Requirements for Spill Incidents page, with a footer reading "Content Last Updated July 2024", says the person in charge of an establishment, the operator of a vehicle, and others whose activity causes a discharge or spillage of oil, petroleum, chemicals or hazardous wastes must report it immediately under section 22a-450 of the Connecticut General Statutes. It says that unless specifically requested, or required under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, DEEP does not require a written submission. A spill with no later documents may therefore have only the original report.
• The owner and the party that caused it are responsible. DEEP says it is the legal responsibility of the parties that caused the spill and the property owners to clean up the pollution, and that under section 22a-454 any cleanup must be performed by a licensed contractor.
• Where documents go depends on the date. DEEP says that for oil and chemical spills reported before March 1, 2026, documents are emailed to DEEP.SpillsDocs@ct.gov. For emergent reportable releases occurring on or after March 1, 2026, and for releases from regulated underground storage tanks, it says documents are submitted through its REACT portal.
• The regulations changed. DEEP's page links release reporting regulations and says the Release Based Cleanup Regulations took effect March 1, 2026. See the Release-Based Cleanup Program page.

Where to look a site up

• DEEP's Records Center page, content last updated July 2024, links two spill incident datasets on Connecticut's open data platform: Spills Incidents Reported to CT DEEP from January 1, 1996 to June 30, 2022 and Spills Incidents Reported to CT DEEP from July 1, 2022 to Recent. DEEP says the datasets give only data from its databases, not documents, and are useful for finding a case number or an address before searching the document portal.
• The same page says documents related to releases reported to DEEP from 1970 to the present are in the DEEP Document Online Search Portal, and that completed Emergency Incident Field Reports for releases reported from July 1, 2022 to the present are available through DEEP's Releases Reported to DEEP Portal.
• DEEP's Environmental Cleanup page names the Release, Environmental Assessment, and Cleanup Tracker as the place to search for properties where releases have occurred. See the REACT page.

Getting the file

DEEP's Records Center page lists oil and chemical spill incident reports and correspondence dated from 1972 among the files of its Bureau of Materials Management and Compliance Assurance. See the Environmental Quality Records Center page for appointments.

Sources

Department of Energy and Environmental Protection pages, read October 8, 2026:

• Emergency Response and Spill Prevention, no modified date shown; the page's footer reads "Content last updated July 2026".
• Reporting Requirements for Spill Incidents, no modified date shown; the page's footer reads "Content Last Updated July 2024".
• Environmental Quality Records Records Center File Room, no modified date shown; the page's footer reads "Content Last Updated July 2024".
• Environmental Cleanup, no modified date shown.