AWO Applauds Judgment Against Oil Spill Law
The American Waterways Operators (AWO), the national trade association for the tugboat, towboat and barge industry, hails the decision yesterday by the U.S. District Court, Massachusetts District, to grant Summary Judgment against a 2004 Massachusetts oil spill law, declaring it null and void. The U.S. Department of Justice sued the Commonwealth over the constitutionality of the law enacted in response to a 2003 accidental tank barge oil spill in Buzzards Bay. The decision affirms the 2008 recommendation of the Magistrate Judge that Massachusetts acted unconstitutionally in enacting the 2004 law that regulated the crewing and operation of towing and tank vessels, areas reserved to the Federal government, specifically the U.S. Coast Guard.
Summary Judgment Against Mass. Law
The American Waterways Operators (AWO) hailed a decision by the U.S. District Court, Massachusetts District, to recommend summary judgment against a 2004 Massachusetts oil spill statute. The decision was issued on July 29 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Leo Sorokin. A lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice challenged the constitutionality of the law, which was enacted in response to a 2003 accidental tank barge oil spill in Buzzards Bay. The Department of Justice lawsuit asserted that the Massachusetts oil spill law tried to make law in areas that are reserved exclusively to the Federal Government, specifically the U.S. Coast Guard. In 2006, the District Court affirmed the position of the U.S.
