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Coalition Endorses Amendments to Strengthen MA Oil Spill Prevention Law
December 28, 2004
CONTACT: Mark Rasmussen, Executive Director The Coalition for Buzzards Bay 508-999-6363, ext. 201
NEW BEDFORD, MA—This week, the Massachusetts Legislature passed two amendments that will strengthen the Massachusetts oil spill prevention law enacted in August 2004 in response to last year's devastating Bouchard-120 Buzzards Bay oil spill. The Coalition for Buzzards Bay supports these amendments and urges Governor Romney to sign them into law. One amendment modifies the requirement that all vessels carrying significant quantities of oil as cargo must be accompanied by an escort tug through sensitive waters including Buzzards Bay. Under the amended law, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection will now be able to grant a case-by-case exemption in emergency circumstances where an escort tug is not available to accompany an oil barge that is poised to transit a protected waterway. "This amendment will provide just enough flexibility to accommodate extraordinary circumstances so that weather or other conditions will not cause a shortage of fuel deliveries or compel an oil-laden barge to remain in unprotected waters off our coast due to the unavailability of an escort tug," according to Susan Reid, Esq., Issues & Policy Director at The Coalition for Buzzards Bay. "Given that the supply of available escort tugs currently exceeds the demand by a fair margin, we expect any DEP-authorized exemptions to be rare." An additional amendment clarifies an existing provision establishing a monetary penalty for traveling outside a designated vessel route. It clarifies that the penalty applies to oil barges that travel outside a vessel route designated on any National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) chart as well as any route designated by the United State Coast Guard. A designated vessel route notably was added to NOAA charts for Buzzards Bay earlier this year. With the passage of the Oil Spill Prevention Act last August, Massachusetts is now at the forefront nationally in terms of state oil spill prevention and response laws. Passage of the Act was motivated by the devastating oil spill on April 27th 2003 that seriously impacted the economy and environment of Buzzards Bay. The spill, the second largest in the Bay's history, resulted in the loss of more than 478 sea birds, fouled 93 miles of shoreline, and contaminated thousands of acres of shellfish beds. The clean up and restoration continue to this day.
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