[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E14]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE OIL SPILL PREVENTION AND RESPONSE IMPROVEMENT ACT

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                          HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 7, 1997

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, 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 the upper bay and the connecting channels in the Kill Van 
Kull and 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, I am introducing the Oil Spill Prevention and 
Response Improvement Act. 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 spill, 
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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