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Oil Spill Property Damage
If your property was affected by an oil spill, you may be entitled to compensation. Our law firm can assist you in recovering damages from the party responsible for the oil spill. Oil spills are often caused by negligence, lack of safety training, failure to heed weather warnings, corporate irresponsibility, and carelessness. Human error plays a large part in many oil spills and leaks, such as when tankers or barges crash, piplelines break or leak, oil wells explode, oil trucks crash, storage tanks fail, and oil platforms break or leak.
Oil Spills Adversely Impact Individuals and Businesses
Oil spills affect all types of individuals and companies. People who live by a pipeline or the coast often sustain serious damage to their residences, cars, and personal property. Fishermen whose livelihoods depend upon healthy fish and clean water can be devastated when a spill occurs. Those who work in the shipping industry can be adversely affected when harbors are closed for spill cleanup. Oil can affect those in agriculture whose crops become contaminated and must be discarded. Tourism is also negatively impacted when spills occur in tourist areas.
Recovery Under The Oil Pollution Act (OPA)
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 allows those whose property is damaged in an oil spill to receive compensation. This federal legislation amended the Clean Water Act and allowed for compensation from damage by vessel- and facility-caused oil pollution to U.S. navigable waters. This legislation was in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, the worst in U.S. history. The spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and approximately 11 million gallons of oil spilled from the tanker to spread across 900 miles of shoreline. Types of claims allowed under the OPA include: natural resource damages (natural resource trustees), removal costs (oil spill recovery organizations, government entities, spill responsible party, others who assisted with cleanup), property damage (anyone who owns or leases property damaged in a spill), boat damage (anyone who owns or leases boats damaged in a spill), loss of profits and earning capacity (anyone will spill-related loss of profits or income) and loss of subsistence use of natural resources (anyone who relies on natural resources affected by the spill). Other types of claims affect government and include: loss of government revenue (local, state, federal governments), and increased public services (local and state governments). OPA claims are submitted to the National Pollution Funds Center, a Coast Guard office that evaluates claims. A qualified attorney may be of assistance because all claims submitted must be accompanied by proof of damages and costs, proof of submission of claim to owner of vessel or facility, and other proof and documentation. OPA claims do not cover ground water spills. If the damage to your property or business was caused by an oil spill affecting groundwater, an individual claim may provide relief. Some states have oil spill damage funds, but many find that the compensation they provide is inadequate.
Additional Recovery Options
Our lawyers can help determine if a civil lawsuit could provide you with relief. If a company’s negligence is to blame for the spill that caused you property damage or other economic loss, the company could be held responsible. Contact Parker Waichman Alonso LLP today if you or your business were adversely affected by an oil spill. Fill out our online form, or call 1-800-LAW-INFO (1-800-529-4636) to speak to a lawyer at our firm.