Strait of Juan de Fuca

View the draft updates to the GRP here.

Description of the planning area

The Strait of Juan de Fuca separates the south coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, from the north coast of Washington State. It is the principal waterway by which international and regional commerce moves to and from the Washington State ports of Port Angeles, Bellingham, Everett, Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia; the oil terminals at Anacortes and Ferndale; and the Canadian ports of Victoria, Vancouver, and Roberts Bank. The Strait is approximately 80 miles long. 

What are Geographic Response Plans?

Geographic Response Plans (GRPs) are used to guide early response actions in the event of an oil spill. Ecology develops and updates GRPs in collaboration with state, local, and federal agencies and tribes. Each GRP is written for a specific area — for example, a river, a lake, or section of Puget Sound. Each GRP includes tactical response strategies tailored to a particular shore or waterway at risk of injury from oil.

GRPs have two main objectives:

• Identify sensitive natural, cultural, or significant economic resources at risk of injury from oil spills.
• Describe and prioritize response strategies in an effort to reduce injury to sensitive natural, cultural, and certain economic resources at risk from oil spills.

More information:

• Learn more about GRPs.
• See GRPs for the Northwest Area (Washington, Oregon, and Idaho).