Maryland
Oil Control Program remediation sites
When there is a release of oil into the environment, the Oil Control Program (OCP) of the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) oversees the cleanup. MDE's Remediation Sites page offers a case search and a posting of documents for some open sites.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 lists state records of leaking storage tanks as a standard source. MDE's page describes releases of oil into the environment and does not say that its case search is limited to leaking tank releases, so this handbook pairs no Maryland list with that record type. The OCP case search is the lookup MDE's page gives for a case. The pages read do not say what a case record shows, or whether every release from a storage tank has a case in it.
Three points from MDE's page shape the search.
- Open or closed. MDE says the link lets a user search for a particular case "by address or other identifying information that is suspected to be open or closed". The page does not say whether every open and closed case is in the search.
- The posted documents are partial. MDE says the sites listed and documents posted on the page are only a partial listing of the open remediation sites and documents in the program's files, and that a complete file review needs a Public Information Act request.
- The posting is arranged by county and town. The documents are linked as PDF files. By their titles they include site fact sheets, community and county notification letters, work plans, sampling and monitoring reports, consent decrees and consent orders. This handbook did not read those documents.
MDE's Fact Sheets and Publications page lists, under remediation, a fact sheet titled "Petroleum Related Reporting for Due Diligence Site Assessments". This handbook did not read it. A consultant doing a Phase I in Maryland may want to read it before deciding what to ask the OCP.
Where to look a site up
- MDE's Case Information Search looks up an OCP case by address or other identifying information. MDE's Public Information Act page also lists it among information available without a request.
- MDE's Open MDE page links Oil Control Program data on inspections and extended permits.
- The Oil Control Program's phone number is 410-537-3442. To report an oil spill, MDE gives 1-866-633-4686, available 24 hours a day.
Getting the file
MDE says complete program files can be requested through the Public Information Act. The steps are on the Public Information Act requests page.
Sources
Maryland Department of the Environment pages, read October 8, 2026. The pages show no modified date.