Remediation of Underwater Legacy Environmental Threats (RULET)

NOAA's Remediation of Underwater Legacy Environmental Threats (RULET) project, identifies the location and nature of potential sources of oil pollution from sunken vessels. Knowing where these vessels are helps oil response planning efforts and may help in the investigation of reported mystery spills--sightings of oil where a source is not immediately known or suspected. The sunken vessels are a legacy of more than a century of U.S. commerce and warfare. The scope of the problem is much more manageable than initially thought. With this assessment we can put reliable bounds on the potential oil pollution threats and start to plan accordingly. The distribution of vessels is skewed heavily to World War II casualties in the Battle of the Atlantic. Some of these vessels may be eligible for listing under the National Register of Historic Places, in addition, many of them are either civilian or military gravesites.

The intent of this data is to provide an assessment of the threat of oil pollution from potentially polluting wrecks in U.S. waters.

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The Spatial Data Branch publishes this data on behalf of the originator. Data visually represented in ERMA are aimed to guide responders, decision makers, and users in making informed steps of analysis and action.