James Oberstar: “we will not take anywhere near the time allotted. I will take a few moments to explain the motion which the gentleman…”

“we will not take anywhere near the time allotted. I will take a few moments to explain the motion which the gentleman from Alaska, the chairman of our committee, and I have discussed previously. The subject of this motion is summed up by a committee hearing held earlier this year on the tragedy that occurred November 26, 2004. The Athos, 750-foot single-hull tank vessel, hit a submerged object in Delaware Bay just south of Philadelphia, spilling 265,000 gallons of heavy crude oil. In January of this year, our Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation held a field hearing on this marine casualty in Philadelphia. The Coast Guard estimated that the costs of cleanup and natural resources damages resulting from the grounding of the Athos I could be in the range of $200 million. Under current law, the owners of the vessel would be liable for costs of only up to $45 million. At that hearing, the Chairman, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo), and our newly elected Member, the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Schwartz), raised the concern that the limits of the vessel owner's liability for response, cleanup, and restoration to the damages caused by this spill were relatively modest, set when the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 was enacted over 15 years ago. The Chairman and I both remember, when we served on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, we were part of setting that oil pollution liability limit.…”