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The Coalition for Buzzards Bay Joins Lawsuit to Toughen Alcohol Testing of Crew Members
May 11, 2005 CONTACT: Mark Rasmussen, Executive Director The Coalition for Buzzards Bay (508) 999-6363 x201
NEW BEDFORD, MA—In an effort to reduce the likelihood of another catastrophic oil spill in Buzzards Bay, The Coalition for Buzzards Bay joined the State of Massachusetts in a lawsuit aimed at ordering the Coast Guard to toughen drug and alcohol testing of crew members involved in accidents. “In 1998, Congress directed the Coast Guard to establish procedures for alcohol testing of crew members within 2 hours of any serious marine accident. Seven years have passed and the Coast Guard still has not adopted a 2-hour testing rule, so we think it appropriate to ask the Court to require that action be taken,” said Jonathan Ettinger, a lawyer from the Boston firm Foley Hoag, who is representing the Coalition. In 2003, the Bouchard-120 had an oil spill that released 98,000 gallons of heavy No. 6 fuel oil into Buzzards Bay and fouled 93 miles of shoreline, killed hundreds of birds and closed thousands of acres of shellfish beds. “When the Bouchard-120 oil spill occurred, the crew and pilot were not tested for alcohol or drug use until 18 hours after the event. We will never know if alcohol or drug abuse played a role in causing the oil spill,” said Mark Rasmussen, Executive Director of The Coalition for Buzzards Bay. “We want to call out to the Coast Guard to implement the laws that are currently on the books and to safeguard our waters from the threat of future oil spills and careless behavior aboard vessels.”
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