Spill Responder; Environmental Specialist

Keeping Washington Clean and Evergreen

The Department of Ecology is hiring a Spill Responder (Environmental Specialist
3) within the Spill Prevention, Preparedness, and Response program.

• Eastern Region Office in Spokane, WA.
• Upon hire, you must live within a commutable distance from the duty station.

• This position is eligible for telework and flexible schedule options.
• This position involves field work and office work; you may telework most of your office work time with occasional in-person meetings and activities.
• Schedules are dependent upon position needs and are subject to change.

• Apply by March 18, 2026
• This position will remain open until filled. The agency reserves the right to make a hire at any time after application review begins. Applications received after the date above may not be considered.

The Spill Response team is trained to the 80‑Hour Hazardous Materials Specialist level. In this role, you will respond to a variety of scenarios such as clandestine drug labs, highway accidents, industrial accidents, sunken vessels, and oil spills. You will work with a variety of partners at the local, state, tribal, and federal levels, as well as industry and private response contractors.

We maintain a rapid, aggressive, and well‑coordinated response posture and take pride in our work!

Preventing spills is always our first goal, but despite our efforts, spills still happen. The goal of our spill preparedness work is to reduce environmental impacts of spills. We require oil handlers in Washington to be ready for a rapid, aggressive, and well‑coordinated response to spills. We also require those responsible for spills to compensate the state for spill damages by restoring natural resources.

• Respond to the field as State On‑Scene Coordinator at emergency oil and hazardous materials incidents.
• Represent the Department of Ecology at Local Emergency Planning Committee meetings and other opportunities for training and outreach with partner agencies.
• Conduct investigations and issue enforcements, to include monetary penalties, to Spillers.
• Maintain proficiency with a variety of tools, equipment, and processes such as multi‑gas meters, personal protective equipment, and the Incident Command System.

For detailed information on how we calculate experience, please visit our Recruitment website.

Six years of combined experience and/or education.

Experience:
Performing environmental‑based work, OR work related to any of the following:

• Incident Command and Emergency Response Leadership

  Experience serving as an initial Incident Commander or State On‑Scene Coordinator, applying Incident Command System (ICS) principles to manage complex oil and hazardous materials incidents involving multiple agencies and competing priorities.

• Advanced Spill Response and Hazardous Materials Operations

  Skill in planning, directing, and performing hands‑on response actions for oil spills, hazardous substance releases, abandoned waste, and illegal drug manufacturing facilities, including containment, cleanup, and mitigation in high‑risk environments.

• Hazard Identification, Sampling, and Field Analysis

  Knowledge of hazardous substance identification, sampling techniques, field testing, and hazard classification, including safe handling of unknown materials and interpretation of monitoring data against health‑based and regulatory standards.

• Dangerous Waste Management and Regulatory Compliance

  Knowledge of federal and state dangerous waste regulations and ability to ensure compliant waste handling, storage, transportation, disposal, inventory tracking, reporting, and emergency response planning.

• Interagency and Law Enforcement Coordination

  Skill in coordinating and leading response activities with local, state, federal, and tribal partners, including law enforcement agencies.

• Emergency Spill Response Operations

  Ability to independently respond to oil spills, hazardous substance releases, abandoned waste, and other environmental and human health emergencies, performing containment, control, and cleanup actions in accordance with established procedures.

• Incident Command System…