Positive Federal Law News

It will surprise very few mariners or maritime executives to learn that legal issues pertaining to the Deepwater Horizon spill are front and center with maritime lawyers these days. In the course of developing an agenda for the upcoming meeting in Houston of the Maritime Law Association, the issues surrounding liability and/or immunity of spill response contractors has emerged. One driver for the discussion is the fact that several such contractors have found themselves targets for claims brought by individuals, businesses and municipalities affected by this spill, despite the fact that such responders have a degree of immunity under the terms of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended by the Water Pollution Act of 1990.