Oregon Shipbreaking Bill Introduced
State Senator Verger introduced a bill (SB 432) to allow shipbreaking in Oregon only in a graving dock or a floating drydock. If enacted, the measure would prohibit shipbreaking at a pier or slip or in any other manner that allows hazardous materials, fouling communities, or fouling organisms to enter Oregon’s territorial sea. Source: HK Law
French PM Tours Oily Coast, Vows Safety Crackdown
French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, touring beaches devastated by oil seeping from a sunken tanker off the Atlantic coast, pledged to press for stricter global safety rules. Jospin, who cut short a trip to Egypt to return to France as it was hit by violent storms that killed some 60 people and drove two separate oil slicks to its coastline, vowed to use the French presidency of the European Union next year to push for new laws. "We are going to draw the lessons for international regulations," he said. "We are going to make precise proposals. French media reported that the oil slicks, which seeped from the tanker Erika after it sank on Dec. 12, were now threatening 250 miles of France's rugged Atlantic coast, which is heavily dependent on fishing and tourism.