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National Pollution Funds Center News

17 Nov 2020

Partially Sunken Tug Leaking Oil in St. Croix

Coast Guard pollution response personnel from Resident Inspection Office St Croix assess the pollution threat from the partially sunken tugboat Cape Lookout Nov. 13, 2020, which partially sank at the St. Croix Renaissance Group facility within Krause Lagoon in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. (U.S. Coast Guard photos)

An abandoned, partially sunken tugboat is actively discharging oil within Krause Lagoon in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday.The amount of oil discharged from the tug Cape Lookout remains unknown, while the maximum potential discharge based on the size of the vessel fuel and lube oil tanks is approximately 48,000 gallons of fuel and 2,000 gallons of lube oil, the Coast Guard said, adding it is unknown how full both tanks are at this time.“Due to the immediate pollution threat this vessel represents to the environment and surrounding area…

18 May 2020

USCG Seeks Comments on Tank Vessel Financial Responsibility

(FILE PHOTO: U.S. Coast Guard photo by Pamela J. Boehland)

The U.S. Coast Guard announced in the Federal Register that it is seeking public comment on a proposal to expand regulations on vessel financial responsibility for all tank vessels greater than 100 gross tons as required by statute, and to make other amendments that clarify and update reporting requirements, reflect current practice and remove unnecessary regulations.The proposed rule would ensure that the Coast Guard has current information when there are significant changes in a vessel’s operation…

08 May 2018

Fishing Companies to Pay $400,000 for Pollution Claims

Challenge Fisheries LLC, Quinn Fisheries Inc., Charles Quinn II, and Charles Quinn III have agreed to pay a total of $414,000 in civil penalties and to perform fleet-wide improvements and other compliance assurance measures to resolve federal Clean Water Act claims stemming from oily bilge discharges from the commercial fishing vessel Challenge, and a related fuel oil discharge in August 2017 in New Bedford Harbor, Mass., the Department of Justice and the Coast Guard announced.In its complaint filed Monday, along with the lodging of a consent decree in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States alleges…

26 Jun 2015

Barge Captain Gets Prison Time for Fatal Explosion

An Illinois man who was captain of a petroleum barge that exploded in a Chicago canal in 2005, killing a crew member, was sentenced to six months in prison on Friday, prosecutors said. Dennis Egan, 36, of Topeka in central Illinois, and the barge owner, Egan Marine Corp. of Lemont, were each convicted in June 2014 of negligent manslaughter of a seaman and negligently discharging oil into a waterway, according to a statement from prosecutors. The Chicago suburban company was ordered to pay $5.3 million in restitution to the National Pollution Funds Center for the clean-up. On January 19, 2005, a barge being pushed by the tow boat "Lisa E" on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was carrying about 600…

05 Sep 2014

Salvor to Remove Beached Vessel in Texas

A derelict vessel, Rich, aground on Sargent Beach Thursday, located about 20 miles south of Freeport. USCG photo

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) contracted a salvage company to remove the threat of pollution from a derelict fishing vessel that went aground Thursday, about 20 miles south of Freeport, Texas, on Sargent Beach. The captain of the vessel Lady Glenda contacted Sector Houston/Galveston watchstanders just after noon Tuesday and reported the vessel Rich listing with marine growth and drifting about 20 miles southeast of Freeport. A Station Freeport 45-foot Response Boat — Medium boatcrew located the vessel that afternoon but weren't able to go aboard due to safety concerns.

27 May 2010

Senate Hearing, Liability for Offshore Oil Production

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources conducted a hearing to receive testimony on the liability and financial responsibility issues related to offshore oil production. The committee also considered the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments act of 2010 (S. 3346) to increase the limits on liability under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) testified. Mr. Thomas Perrelli, Department of Justice, testified concerning liability and compensation under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90). Mr. David Hayes, Department of the Interior, testified concerning the Department’s outer continental shelf oil and gas development enforcement program. Mr.

09 Apr 2010

Award to Restore Habitat After 1953 Sinking

State and federal trustees were awarded $16.9m for seven projects to address harm from mysterious oil leaks that killed more than 50,000 California seabirds since 1990. The projects will help species impacted by oil that leaked from the S.S. Jacob Luckenbach. The freighter sank in 1953 about 17 miles southwest of the Golden Gate Bridge, but was not identified as the source of the oil until 2002 after decades of leaking oil, especially during winter storms, causing massive injury to wildlife. “This funding will go a long way to restore California’s seabird populations that were devastated by oil released from the Luckenbach,” said Stephen Edinger, administrator for the California Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response.

18 Jan 2009

WQIS Prepared for COFR Limit Increase

On July 11, 2006 the President signed into law Title VI of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, which increased the limits of liability for vessels under OPA 90. It also split the tank vessel category into single and double hulls with single hulls having higher limits. Those limits went into effect in 2006. However, the requirement for evidence of financial responsibility required to obtain a Certificate of Financial Responsibility (COFR) was not increased at that point. Meaning, existing COFRs remained valid. By a notice in the Federal Register/Vol. 73, No.181/Wednesday, September 17, 2008 the Coast Guard promulgated regulations implementing the new COFR regulations to take effect from January 15, 2009. As of that date, the financial guaranty or insurance to the U.S.

24 Mar 2008

The COFRs are Coming

Two Coast Guard small boats set a security zone around the 900-foot container ship Cosco Busan. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

On February 5, the US Coast Guard promulgated its long-awaited proposal for updating the Certificate of Financial Responsibility (COFR) program. Owners and operators of vessels over 300 gross tons operating in United States waters have been required to provide evidence of financial responsibility to respond to oil spills from their vessels since 1972. The program was significantly broadened with enactment of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), which increased the categories of damages for which oil spill liability could attach.

11 Jul 2006

ITS Corp. Awarded USCG Contract

ITS Corporation ITS Corporation announced that its Arlington-based LEADS Business Unit won a contract for Business Operations Support Services (BOSS) to perform claims services for the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which is overseen by the U.S. Coast Guard's National Pollution Funds Center (NPFC). The BOSS contract is for managerial support, project management, claims analysis expertise, and business process improvement. Claims analysis support includes claims investigation and cost documentation, claim adjudication, accounting and auditing, and engineering specialties and other technical and scientific areas that may be required by the NPFC. The five-year IDIQ contract is estimated at $2m.