Bouchard Oil Spill another Gov Patrick -Failure ?

[Jim Lawrence]

In September , 2009 Gov. Deval Patrick signed "An Act Preventing Oil Spills in Buzzards Bay" and gave the state Department of Environmental Protection 120 days to promulgate the new regulations. The state has allowed a class action lawsuit to drag through the court system since 2004 almost six years later residents wonder about Gov.Patricks administration and is there any justice? Incidentally the civil case was filed in September of 2004.

Following the 98,000-gallon Bouchard 120 oil spill in Buzzards Bay, the state passed the 2004 Oil Spill Prevention Act. This act has been appealed by the Coast Guard or the federal government against its own citizens trying to prevent another oil spill by the Bouchard Oil Company in Buzzards Bay!

We ask why would the Coast Guard appeal this law? Here it is:
When officers of the Coast Guard attain twenty or thirty years at the Coast Guard they want to double dip on their pensions. The Coast Guard officers that have been good to the oil companies get a good job after they retire guess where? Driving the oil barges for the oil company? Give us a break!

Governor Deval Patrick, lost 100 million in the state's investment in Evergreen Solar at Ft.Devans and is now trying to pass the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act to take citizens rights away from them at the local level. The most recent appeal of the "Oil Spill Act " and continued appeals by the Bouchard Oil Companies attorneys in civil court, for what?

Gov Patrick failed the citizens on their civil suit against the Bouchard Oil Company, Buzzards Bay by allowing years to drag on through court,giving Evergreen Solar millions in tax dollars, taking residents rights through the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act and now allowing an appeal to the tug boat escort act.

F for Gov Patrick on Environment

[Mary Goulet]

The Bouchard Oil Company did plead guilty in the ongoing civil trial in Massachusetts Court system. The Bouchard Company did plead guilty but has appealed the appeals and does not want to pay a bunch of local yocals in New Bedford. The oil barge company will pay these residents. They'll probably all get a free gallon of gas. These same residents, a network of watchdogs on Buzzards Bay caught Bouchard Transportation Co. allegedly breaking the very law enacted to prevent the kind of oil spill a Bouchard barge caused six years ago. The response by the state "none."

[Bob Hill]

The Bouchard Oil Company took over all the oil barges on the East Coast after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. The federal government enacted a wide variety of navigation and other rules designed to reduce the likelihood of future accidents, and ensure their timely cleanup of spills after 1989 . The spills still continue!

On March 29, 2004, the US Attorney announced that Bouchard Transportation agreed to plead guilty to two charges of criminal negligence in Buzzards Bay. So what?

The civil litigation over the Exxon Valdez goes on today well over twenty years after the oil spill in Alaska, likewise the civil litigation drags on in Massachusetts as it has in Alaska over the same issues. We only need to look to campaign contributions, oil lobbyist at the statehouse and the amount of money these oil companies pay big buck attorneys to keep their clients appealing the cases until everyone is no longer alive. We can only thank our Gov Patrick, the Legislature and the Massachusetts Court System!

[Buzzards Bay]

Congressmen try to head off Coast Guard appeal of oil spill law
BECKY W. EVANS
[e-mail]
November 07, 2009 12:00 AM
Massachusetts congressmen are urging the Coast Guard not to challenge a new state law that aims to prevent oil spills by providing tug escorts and state pilots for double-hulled oil barges transiting Buzzards Bay.
"We request that the Coast Guard respect Massachusetts' right to implement these appropriate safeguards that are inarguably within the state's jurisdiction, and we strongly urge the Coast Guard to take no legal action against the commonwealth," the congressmen wrote in a Nov. 5 letter to the chiefs of the Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. The letter is signed by U.S. Sens. John F. Kerry and Paul G. Kirk and U.S. Reps. Barney Frank, James P. McGovern and William D. Delahunt.
Coast Guard officials did not respond to an inquiry about whether the agency plans to take legal action against the state law. If it does, it will not be the first time.
Following the 98,000-gallon Bouchard 120 oil spill in Buzzards Bay, the state passed the 2004 Oil Spill Prevention Act. The federal government then filed suit in federal district court challenging several of the act's key provisions. In 2006, a federal judge issued a permanent injunction blocking enforcement of some provisions, including mandatory tug boat escorts. The lawsuit, which was appealed, is still being argued in court.
"I am continuously disappointed with the Coast Guard," said state Sen. Mark C. W. Montigny, D-New Bedford. "It seems every time we fix it, they find a new way to put the bay in peril."
On Sept. 24, Gov. Deval Patrick signed "An Act Preventing Oil Spills in Buzzards Bay" and gave the state Department of Environmental Protection 120 days to promulgate the new regulations.
The law provides escort tugs and state pilots for double-hulled barges carrying 6,000 or more barrels of oil so they can safely navigate the narrow bay. It triples fines for barges that spill oil in the bay if they neglected to arrange for an escort tug 24 hours in advance of entering the bay.
Two days prior to signing the law, the Coast Guard sent a three-page letter to Patrick outlining the agency's concerns with House Bill 4247 and encouraging the governor to veto it.
"We regard HB 4247's extension of the escort requirement to double-hulled barges to be an undue burden on commerce and an ineffective step towards accomplishing our common goal of improving oil spill prevention and recovery," wrote Rear Admiral Joseph L. Nimmich of the First Coast Guard District.
The letter states that tug escort requirements for double-hulled barges would undermine the agency's progress in reducing the use of single-hulled barges, which are considered more dangerous. It also notes the agency's objections to state pilot requirements and a 24-hour notification requirement for tug escorts.
Rep. William M. Straus, D-Mattapoisett, said legislators designed the law specifically to avoid a legal challenge from the federal government.

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...

[Rhode Island DEM]

The guy that was driving this boat called Rhode Island first when the accident happened ! The pilot thought he was in Rhode Island . Maybe those residents in the civil trial should hire a "political consultant" to you know move the case along .That's how you do business today !

[Mary Delaney]

How about that Evergreen Company that took all the millions of dollars from the Massachusetts Gov Patrick and now they are moving to China ____

[Bob Hill]

Governor Deval Patrick "horrified by these apparent failures

Evergreen Solar ,Ft Devans $ 100 million

In order to make ends meet, is reduced to asking other states to collect taxes from Massachusetts residents who flee their state to avoid paying increasingly high taxes

The failure to provide the requested level of funding imposes significant constraints public schools

calling the terrorist attacks of 2001 "a failure of human understanding."

swine flu program a 'total failure'

The division between Governor Deval Patrick and legislative leaders grew

Governor Deval Patrick last night suspended and is considering firing the state's chief medical examiner after Dr. Mark A. Flomenbaum's office acknowledged earlier in the day that it had lost a corpse that pathologists examined last week.

Senator Dianne Wilkerson's bizarre failure

The Massachusetts Wind Energy Siting Reform Act takes residents rights

Gov. Patrick Tries, Fails To Remove T Chief. By MONICA BRADY-MYEROV

Gov. Deval L. Patrick pauses before giving an address at the New England Business ... performance fails consistently to meet projections

The list goes on !

[Oscar Brown]

Trial in Bouchard oil spill set for March
By BECKY W. EVANS
[e-mail]
December 11, 2009 12:00 AM

A class-action lawsuit filed by Mattapoisett residents against Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc. is headed to trial almost seven years after the Bouchard 120 barge polluted Buzzards Bay and its coastline with a spill of nearly 100,000 gallons of thick fuel oil.
The trial by jury will begin March 22 at Plymouth Superior Court. Judge Raymond J. Brassard will preside.

The suit, which includes Mattapoisett homeowners whose property was damaged in the Bouchard 120 spill, is seeking millions of dollars in damages, according to court documents.

"The plaintiffs are grateful that this matter is finally going to be brought to trial," said Martin E. Levin, a Boston attorney representing the Mattapoisett homeowners who brought the suit against Bouchard Transportation, B. No. 120 Corp. and Tug Evening Tide Corp.

The suit was filed in Plymouth Superior Court on Sept. 29, 2004, about a 1½ years after Bouchard 120 drifted out of the shipping lanes and struck a rocky ledge off Gooseberry Neck in Westport. Oil spilled from the ruptured hull, polluting more than 100 miles of shoreline, killing at least 450 birds and shutting down 90,000 acres of shellfish beds for months.

While the overall cause and effect of the Bouchard oil spill will be considered during the trial, Levin said 15 out of 1,100 class properties will serve as the focal point. The trial is scheduled to run for two weeks

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...

[Jane Trainor]

Coast Guard won't challenge state's oil spill law
By Steve Urbon
[e-mail]
December 11, 2009 12:00 AM
The Coast Guard has dropped — at least for now — a planned court challenge to the state law designed to protect Buzzards Bay from wayward oil barges.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wrote this week to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., saying, "Although the USCG (Coast Guard) has concerns about the new legislation, we do not have any present intention to initiate a legal challenge."
The news was hailed by Frank and four other members of the congressional delegation who wrote to the Coast Guard last month protesting the planned legal challenge. They said in the letter the state was acting within its jurisdiction and reminded the Coast Guard that President Barack Obama in May sent a memo to all departments instructing them to cooperate with, not confront, state governments that are trying to solve problems.
"Preemption of state law by executive departments and agencies should be undertaken only with full consideration of the legitimate prerogatives of the states and with a sufficient legal basis for preemption," Obama wrote.
"I am very grateful to Secretary Napolitano for responding to our concerns and agreeing not to try to block the Massachusetts state law regarding oil tankers in Buzzards Bay," said Frank. "This is a welcome contrast from the policy of the Bush administration. Until the day arrives when double-hulled tankers are required, it is vital that we take the necessary steps to protect our natural resources."
Mark Rasmussen, president of the Coalition for Buzzards Bay, also applauded Napolitano's response.
"We have been asking the Coast Guard to work in partnership with us for six years now. Instead, they have seemed more concerned about looking out for the oil barge industry and fighting us in court," Rasmussen said. "This letter has a marked, new tone from the Coast Guard's leadership that is very much welcomed. I hope it's the start of a new era of cooperation and a stronger commitment from Washington to protect Buzzards Bay."
The state law enhances the federal requirement concerning escort tugboats for fuel barges transiting Buzzards Bay. While federal law requires an escort tugboat only for single-hulled barges, which eventually will be phased out, the state requires them for all barges, double and single.
To get around an earlier court challenge, the law was amended so that the state pays for the escort tugs for the double-hulled barges. The money is coming from a 5-cent-a-barrel delivery fee at maritime terminals, up from 2 cents, which is expected to raise $4.8 million a year for the tugboat protection.

Steve Urbon is senior correspondent
for The Standard-Times http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...

[Rhode Island DEM]

This oil barge company spilled 100,000 gallons of oil in Buzzards Bay . They are still finding oil from 40 years ago on the shores of Buzzards Bay !

The only way to stop the spills is fine the company 100 million - Watch how fast they become carefull!

We are mad as hell over these spills .The environment belongs to all of us -not just the Coast Guard and the Oil Companies