Sea Side Scrap Book » The Necessity For OPA 90

The Necessity For OPA 90

Known as the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the OPA was signed in to law in that year in the month of August. It was, more than anything else, written in response to the 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound in Alaska by the Exxon Valdez tanker. That tragedy took place on the 24th of March, 1989. OPA 90 was written to provide the Government with the tools to react, such as extended power, pools of money, and a number of other resources like the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. Keep reading for more provisions of OPA 90.

It provided that whomever is responsible for an oil spill would be responsible for the ship or rig from which it was spilled. It made this entity liable both for damages and removal costs required for a proper cleanup. It also allowed this entity to effort to prove liability belongs with some other third party and that this third party would then be held accountable and thus responsible for the cleanup of the spill.

It says that any facility located offshore is required to provide evidence of financial responsibility of up to one hundred and fifty million dollars, and that vessels and deep water ports are liable for the maximum applied amount.

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The States were granted the authority to enforce this requirement of financial liability by the means set forth in the bill and went on to grant federal money to the states to be used for immediate cleanup when needed. This was limited to 250 thousand dollars.

Extensive fines were also implemented as a way to deter irresponsible behavior. Fines as low as 10 thousand dollars and corporate fines that could range as high as five hundred thousand dollars were created. It also implemented a means to convict those held ultimately responsible and asses jail time for these individuals from anywhere from 5 to 15 years.

Still, there are those who feel that OPA does not go far enough. These people generally feel it does not punish big oil in a harsh enough way when spill occur, either from a ship or a drilling rig. Spills have certainly continued since August of 1990 and the critics not only remain, but their numbers appear to be growing.

Many US Senators have come together and penned what is knows as the Big Oil Bail Out Prevention Plan as a direct response to the most recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This bill would potentially increase the economic responsibility of big oil for the economic aspect of such a disaster to 1 billion dollars, which is far greater than the 75 million currently provided by OPA 90. This bill appears to have wide political support, and even the President appears to be on board and politicians are eager to increase the provisions of OPA 90 by enforcing tougher restrictions on drilling and levying much heavier fines with such a large environmental catastrophe occurs.

One thing is likely, and that is the battle between environmentalists and big oil is far from over, and as each spill seems to bring tragedy to a new part of the world, the number of people that support the effort to stick it to the big oil companies appears to be on the rise. OPA 90 may prove to have only been the beginning.

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