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U.S. Fifth Circuit Affirms $20 Million Judgment Against Barge Owner as Responsible Party Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990

The Energy Law Blog

Factual Background In July of 2008, nearly 300,000 gallons of oil spilled into the Mississippi River in New Orleans when a tugboat towing an oil-filled barge veered across the river into the path of an ocean-going tanker. American Commercial Lines (“ACL”) owned the tug MEL OLIVER, and bareboat chartered its tug to DRD Towing.

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Fifth Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment in Oil Pollution Act Case

The Energy Law Blog

30, 2010), the Fifth Circuit reversed the district court’s finding of summary judgment on liability under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA”). As a result, a large amount of oil spilled from the barge into the river near New Orleans. Laurin Maritime (America), Inc. 2010 WL 5421015 (5th Cir.

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2023 Begins With Increased (or Unlimited) Liability for Vessel Owners

The Energy Law Blog

A Regulatory Increase to the Limits of Liability for Oil Pollution and an Amendment Exempting Small Passenger Vessels from the Limitation of Liability Act Present New Challenges for Vessel Owners U.S. First, the Coast Guard announced [1] increases to the liability limits in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA”). [2]

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NRDA Settlement Reached for 2014 Galveston Bay Oil Spill

The Energy Law Blog

The Trustees for this incident include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Shortly after the incident, Kirby and the Natural Resource Trustees began assessing natural resource damages caused by the release. That it has taken nearly eight years to resolve the natural resource damages claim is fairly typical.

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Policy News: June 28, 2021

ESA

Senators confirmed Richard Spinrad to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by a voice vote. He served as NOAA’s chief scientist from 2014 and 2016 and has also led both NOAA’s Office of Atmospheric Research and the National Ocean Service. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’s South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act ( S.

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Policy News: July 12, 2021

ESA

Amid competing House and Senate proposals to increase funding levels for the National Science Foundation, the House Appropriations Committee released its fiscal year (FY) 2022 spending bill covering NSF, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA. The bill includes $9.63 billion for NSF, a 13% increase over last fiscal year.

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