[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 4, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E989-E990]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THE OIL SPILL PREVENTION AND RESPONSE IMPROVEMENT ACT

                                 ______


                          HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 4, 1996

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, it is with a sense of urgency that I 
introduce the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Improvement Act. On May 
10, 1996, a tanker moored in Delaware Bay spilled 10,000 gallons of 
light grade crude oil. Strong winds pushed the slick toward the beaches 
of Cape May, NJ, posing a threat to wildlife and migrating waterfowl. 
The tanker had been anchored 17 miles off the Cape May Shore in an area 
known as the Big Stone Anchorage. It was involved in a process known as 
lightering. A tanker lighters by pumping some of its cargo into a 
smaller barge. This is usually done because there is insufficient depth 
of water to allow the tanker to safely make passage to secure oil 
terminals. Transferring oil over open water between two or more vessels 
is a risky process which greatly increases the possibility of spills or 
more serious accidents.
  While the Cape May incident was a relatively minor accident and the 
environmental impacts were quickly contained, I am greatly troubled 
about the prospect of an accident in the New York Harbor. Thirty 
billion gallons of oil of every type are shipped through the Port of 
New York and New Jersey each year. One billion gallons is lightered 
from deep water anchorages beyond the Verrazano Narrows. That is 100 
times the amount of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez off the Alaskan 
coast. These barges are often single hulled and sometimes have no crew 
or anchor. The situation in the New York Harbor is doubly dangerous 
because of an institutional failure to dredge. The lightering process 
is used to reduce the weight of oil tankers and thereby lessen draft to 
enable these great ships to negotiate the shoaled-in channels and 
berths of

[[Page E990]]

the upper bay and the connecting channels in the Kill Van Kull and the 
Arthur Kill. It is only the exceptional skill and dedication of the 
pilots serving the Port of New York and New Jersey that have prevented 
a catastrophe, but there have been a number of near collisions.
  To reduce this threat, this legislation requires the Coast Guard to 
develop requirements for lightering and towing operations. It provides 
incentives for converting to the use of double hull vessels. The bill 
will also reduce the economic hardship on the victims of oil-spills, 
particularly in fishing communities. This bill is a good starting point 
at improving the Oil Pollution Act and improving the safety of barges 
that move a commodity that is essential for our economy safely and 
without harm to the environment.

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