Page 43: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 1997)

TANKER TECHNOLOGY

Environmental Groups Sue USCG For Lack Of Oil Spill Regulation

USCG, viewed as a tough enforcer by the international maritime community; is nonetheless taken to task by domestic groups

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is being sued by a coalition of envi- ronmental groups which claims that the government agency has fallen down on the task of requir- ing tankers to make structural changes and other improvements as extra safety measures against oil spills. "Congress ordered the Coast

Guard to protect the environment from oil spills ... nonetheless, the

Coast Guard threw up its hands and determined that virtually nothing was economical to do,"

Peter Lehner, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources

Defense Council, said.

The NRDC and several other organizations filed the lawsuit in

U.S. District Court in New Jersey.

Under a law passed after the

March 1989 Valdez spill in

Alaska's Prince William Sound,

Congress called for tankers in U.S. waters to have double hulls, but allowed that requirement to be phased in over 25 years. In the meantime, Congress ordered oper- ating and structural improve- ments be made in single hull tankers to provide as much protec- tion as was economically and tech- nologically feasible.

In January, the USCG, which administers ocean spill prevention programs, said it would not require retrofits to prevent spills in single hull tankers before they are retired or rebuilt to meet dou- ble hull requirements by 2015.

The environmental groups com- plained that the USCG also backed off other non-structural requirements that could have pro- vided extra protections. "Several measures such as 'hydrostatically balanced loading' — which simply means not over- filling the tanker so that oil does not gush out if the tank breaks — were found feasible, affordable and very effective," Lehner said. "But after the industry complained, the

September, 1997

Coast Guard gave in and withdrew that proposal."

In January, the USCG said its rule, which is designed to reduce human error and the risk of acci- dents caused by equipment or structural failure, and other oil spill emergency rules imposed ear- lier should be enough protection until all tankers have double hulls.

The USCG offered no comment on the lawsuit.

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