sailsmen
06-23-2010, 03:50 PM
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990, (OPA'90) applies when there is a discharge of oil onto water. As respects clean up, mitigation and property damage from a discharge of oil, it imposes strict liability, as in regardless of fault, on the vessel owner and/or the lessee, in this case BP.
In exchange for this strict liability there is a cap on the strict liability of $75M, however the cap does not apply to;
1) costs incurred by Federal, State and local Gov't
2) violation of any Federal safety, construction or operating regulation which is the case with BP
3) failure to report the discharge.
Under OPA'90 - " The President shall direct all Federal, State, and private actions to remove the discharge or to mitigate or prevent the threat of the discharge."
The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund which currently has $1.4 Billion and is funded by a tax on every barrel of oil pays claims that the vessel owner or lessee, BP, have denied to pay or have not paid in 90 days. The National Pollution Funds Center, which is under the USCG, administers the fund. File your claim first with BP. By law if BP denies or does not pay within 90 days file your claim with the NPFC, 202-493-6700, 800-280-7118 or uscg.mil/ccs/npfc. Types of claims OPA'90 covers are loss of profits, loss earning capacity, loss of natural resources, loss of taxes, property damage, etc.
In exchange for this strict liability there is a cap on the strict liability of $75M, however the cap does not apply to;
1) costs incurred by Federal, State and local Gov't
2) violation of any Federal safety, construction or operating regulation which is the case with BP
3) failure to report the discharge.
Under OPA'90 - " The President shall direct all Federal, State, and private actions to remove the discharge or to mitigate or prevent the threat of the discharge."
The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund which currently has $1.4 Billion and is funded by a tax on every barrel of oil pays claims that the vessel owner or lessee, BP, have denied to pay or have not paid in 90 days. The National Pollution Funds Center, which is under the USCG, administers the fund. File your claim first with BP. By law if BP denies or does not pay within 90 days file your claim with the NPFC, 202-493-6700, 800-280-7118 or uscg.mil/ccs/npfc. Types of claims OPA'90 covers are loss of profits, loss earning capacity, loss of natural resources, loss of taxes, property damage, etc.