Practice Areas - Oil Pollution and Environmental Damage

March 10, 2010

OIL POLLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE

In its historical role of representing shipowners and their P&I Clubs, the firm has always handled oil pollution and environmental damage cases, including several major pre-OPA '90 spills, such as the ZOE COLOCOTRONI spill in Puerto Rico in 1973, the ARGO MERCHANT off Nantucket in 1976, the APEX HOUSTON in California in 1986, the GLACIER BAY in Alaska in 1987, the NESTUCCA in Washington State in 1988, the PRESIDENTE RIVERA in Delaware Bay in 1989 and the E-25 and CIBRO SAVANNAH spills in the Arthur Kill, New York City in 1990.

The EXXON VALDEZ disaster and the resulting enactment of OPA '90 dramatically changed the landscape of oil spills in the United States, and now even a relatively minor spill can lead to substantial cleanup costs, natural resource damages and third party claims. The firm was lead counsel on the first major oil spill following OPA '90, the three-ship collision in Tampa Bay in 1993 involving two barges and a freighter, wherein total cleanup costs, natural resource damage claims, third party claims and damage assessment and defense costs exceeded $80 million. We were also lead counsel on the first major oil spill following the enactment of the Federal Trustees' new natural resource damage assessment regulations in 1996, a spill off the coast of Rhode Island, where again, cleanup costs, natural resource damage claims, third party claims, criminal penalties and assessment and defense costs exceeded $100 million. We are currently members of the defense teams representing the owners of a bulk carrier which grounded and broke in two off the coast of Oregon in 1999 and another bulker which spilled bunkers allegedly killing several thousand seabirds off the coast of South Carolina, also in 1999.

In addition, the firm has handled numerous cases involving either oil pollution or physical damage to coral reefs in Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Pacific Territories. These cases present unique issues regarding restoration of the environment.

Based on our long experience in this area of the law, we have designed a strong environmental response team which we can and have deployed on a moment's notice anywhere in the United States to deal with the myriad issues which immediately confront a shipowner and its underwriters in a serious pollution case. Immediately following a spill a shipowner is confronted with:

casualty investigations by the United States Coast Guard and/or the National Transportation Safety Board and possibly local enforcement agencies
the potential for serious criminal sanctions
the liaison between the shipowner and its P&I Club and hull underwriters
dealing with the Federal On-Scene Commander and oil spill response contractors over cleanup measures and funding
initiating a line of communication and coordination between the Federal and State natural resource damage trustees and our environmental experts regarding injury assessment
responding to the media
setting up a facility to handle third party claims

To assist us, we have developed a network of experienced local counsel throughout the United States, and a stable of environmental experts, media consultants, cleanup surveyors, accountants and claims adjusters.

In all, the firm has acted as lead counsel in over 20 cases, in which the total exposure for pollution or other environmental damage for each was in excess of $1 million. We believe that our response team has a proven track record of success.

Representative Cases