11.20.07

Cantwell Calls for Senate Hearing

Coast Guard Briefs Chair on Puget Sound Response Plan

SEATTLE, WA– Tuesday, after a meeting with key Coast Guard District 13 personnel and other key stakeholders, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and the Coast Guard called for a hearing on oil spill prevention and response for non-tanker vessels when Congress is back in session in December.
 
“It is disturbing that non-tank vessels are not being regulated to the high standards they should be,” said Cantwell. “I will hold a hearing on this issue when Congress returns in December. Over 2,300 large cargo ships transit through the Puget Sound each year and the event in San Francisco is one more reminder just how vulnerable our waterways are to oil spills. I applaud efforts by the Coast Guard, states, and industry to reduce spills during the past 17 years.  But all it takes is a single incident to devastate our ocean environment.”
 
On November 7, a reported 58,000 gallons of fuel oil spilled into the San Francisco Bay when a cargo ship collided with the Bay Bridge. Initially, the ship’s owners told the U.S. Coast Guard that only 140 gallons had spilled from the vessel.  The amount of oil spill was vastly underestimated and 12 hours later, data revealed the true scope of the heavy-duty bunker fuel oil spill.  Non-tank vessel owners are subject to significantly lower liability levels for oil spill cleanups compared to tank vessels and tank barges.
 
In Washington state, over 2,300 large non-tank vessels such as cargo ships and freighters transit into Puget Sound waters each year.  Additionally, about 600 tankers and 3,000 barges carry roughly fifteen billion gallons of oil through the Puget Sound’s fragile ecosystem to the state’s five refineries.  Current law heavily regulates oil tankers that carry oil as cargo, but is much more lenient towards large ships that carry massive quantities of oil as fuel.  In 2004, Congress mandated that all non-tank vessels larger than 400 gross tons carry a vessel response plan.  The Coast Guard has not yet issued the final rule implementing this requirement, leaving a major gap that Congress thought it had covered.
 
In June, Cantwell introduced the Oil Pollution Prevention and Response Act, which would update the landmark Oil Pollution Act of 1990 – which was enacted following the tragic Exxon Valdez oil spill.  The bill would also improve oil spill prevention and response, and implement long sought-after environmental safeguards to protect America’s waterways from contamination.  Key provisions from this bill have also been included in the Senate’s Coast Guard Authorization Act.
 
To improve oil spill response, and response to disabled ships, Cantwell’s legislation would:
 
  • Bolster the Nation’s Fire Fighting, Response, and Salvage Capability – The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 directed the Coast Guard to make sure adequate salvage, response, and firefighting vessels and equipment is stationed at strategic locations across the country, but the rule has yet to be implemented.  OPPRA would require the rule’s implementation within 18 months of enactment.
 
  • Enhance Oil Spill Preparedness in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Outer Coast – Currently the high volume port area in Washington state, in which additional response equipment must be stationed, does not include waters west of Port Angeles.  OPPRA would extend the high volume port area west to Cape Flattery, requiring oil spill response equipment along the entire Strait of Juan de Fuca.
 
  • Hold an Oil Spill Response Drill Off Washington’s Coast – To help prepare for an actual emergency, OPPRA would direct NOAA to lead an oil spill response drill in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.  NOAA has led oil spill response drills in Florida and California, and a similar exercise has long been planned for the Olympic coast.  OPPRA would authorize $700,000 for the exercise.
 
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