Hazardous & Oil Spill System (HOSS)

The Hazardous & Oil Spill System (HOSS) is a database of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which publishes tables from it beside the tables from its tanks database. DEP's Hazardous & Oil Spill System Online Report Service gives access, at no cost, to basic oil and hazardous materials spill data from the department's main spill reporting database, once DEP has finalized a report's data for public viewing. DEP says a call reporting a spill alerts a DEP responder in Augusta, Bangor, Portland or Presque Isle, and that its response staff are on call 24 hours a day.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name state spill lists among its standard record sources. The federal counterpart of a state spill list is the emergency response record described on the ERNS page. A Maine spill report still matters, because it can be the only state record of a release that never became a cleanup case. Four Maine details shape how to read the record.

• What must be reported, and when. DEP says an oil spill, including gasoline, diesel, heating, hydraulic and lubricating oils, should be reported to DEP by telephone as soon as possible but within two hours, and that a responsible party who reports within two hours is exempt from fines for the discharge. Evidence of a leak from an underground storage tank must be reported within 24 hours, though DEP says certain exemptions may apply. Hazardous materials spills and incidents must be reported immediately to the Department of Public Safety (State Police). Hazardous waste spills must also be reported to DEP in writing within 15 days, and hazardous material spills within 30 days.
• The online data is basic. DEP says to use its search of scanned spill reports for more detailed information than the database search may include.
• The map does not show every spill. DEP's GIS page maps HOSS sites and says: "The HOSS sites dataset does not contain the locations of all spills recorded by the Maine DEP." Search the database and the reports, not the map alone.
• The spiller is responsible for cleanup. DEP says the responsible party is legally responsible for cleanup and may do it under DEP's direction. DEP's Long-Term Petroleum Remediation Priority List identifies each site referred for long-term remediation by its spill number; see Petroleum Clean Up.

Where to look a site up

• DEP's Hazardous & Oil Spill System Online Report Service searches by spill number, reported date range, location, tank type and keywords.
• DEP's File Room, Reports and Lists page links a Spill Reports Master List, which it says includes each report's status, with a Spill Report Code Sheet and Spill Report Status Code Descriptions. It also links the HOSS database tables, updated monthly, for users familiar with relational databases, with "Read Me" files to read first.
• DEP's GIS Maps and Other Data Files page maps HOSS sites, refreshed every Saturday night, and Technical Services Spill Projects, refreshed daily.
• This handbook did not open the lists, the code sheets, the tables or the maps. Read a status code against DEP's own descriptions, not the abbreviation.

Getting the file

DEP's online portals hold scanned finalized oil and hazardous spill reports and spill projects, queried by criteria such as spill number, town or facility; the File Room, Reports and Lists page links them. Not all files have been scanned. Paper Spill Files are reviewed at the file room by appointment, at (207) 287-7843. Have the spill number when you ask. See File Room, Reports and Lists.

Sources

Maine Department of Environmental Protection pages, read October 13, 2026:

• Emergency Spill Response, no modified date shown.
• FAQs, no modified date shown.
• Additional Resources, no modified date shown.
• Maps and Data, no modified date shown.
• File Room, Reports, Scanned Documents and Lists, no modified date shown.
• GIS Maps & Other Data Files, no modified date shown.
• Petroleum Clean up, no modified date shown.
• Long-trerm Petroleum Remediation Priority List, updated April 10, 2026.