Mate Charged in Buzzards Bay Oil Spill
A Jacksonville, Florida man was charged today in federal court with one count of violating the Clean Water Act and one count of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Thomas V. Skinner, Acting Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance; William Schenkelberg, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region of the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service; and Thomas J. Healy, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement, announced today that FRANKLIN ROBERT HILL, age 53, of Jacksonville, Florida…
Tugboat Mate Convicted
A Jacksonville, Florida man pleaded guilty in federal court to violating the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Thomas V. Skinner, Acting Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance; William Schenkelberg, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region of the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service; and Thomas J. Healy, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement, announced today that FRANKLIN ROBERT HILL, age 53, of Jacksonville, Florida, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert B.
Judge Nullifies State Oil Spill Law
A federal judge has nullified Massachusetts’ landmark Oil Spill Prevention Act, striking down regulations on oil shipping in Buzzards Bay that included mandatory tug escorts and navigational routes as well as minimum staffing. U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro ruled the state violated federal law because those areas fall under Coast Guard jurisdiction. He said the state regulations ''are pre-empted, invalid and unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.'' The Massachusetts Legislature passed the Oil Spill Act in 2004, amid warnings from the oil industry that it was stepping on federal jurisdiction. Lawmakers moved quickly to respond to a 98,000-gallon oil spill in Buzzards Bay on April 27, 2003, when a Bouchard Transportation Co.
