Damage Assessment and Restoration Following the JULIE N Oil Spill: A Case Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT On September 27, 1996, the T/V JULIE N inbound with a cargo of 8.8 million gallons of #2 fuel oil struck the Million Dollar Bridge, spanning Portland Harbor between Portland and South Portland, Maine. The incident resulted in a spill of approximately 180,000 gallons of oil, which spread throughout a large area of Portland Harbor. The marine and coastal resources of Portland Harbor and the Fore River, including water resources, shellfish, wetlands, sediments, and birds were exposed and/or injured by the oil. The spill also had an adverse impact on several different public use services. The natural resource trustee agencies (including the State of Maine, NOAA, and the Department of the Interior) and Amity Products Carriers, Inc. (Responsible Party, RP) conducted a cooperative natural resource damage assessment to assess and restore natural resources exposed and/or injured by the spill. The trustees and RP operated under an initial verbal agreement to cooperate until a written agreement was executed over a year after the incident. The cooperative process and lessons learned are described in the paper. Particularly positive components included cooperative data collection and active collaboration on study design and endpoints. The trustees expended $782,860 in assessment costs. The RP expended an additional $169,101 in cooperative laboratory and field investigations, as well as $364,720 in consultant costs. The total assessment costs were $1,316,681. The trustees and the RP were then able to successfully negotiate a $1 million dollar settlement for the purpose of planning, implementing, and overseeing selected restoration projects. These projects included reducing the discharge of PAH's into the Fore River, wetland and bird habitat restoration, and construction of a recreational trail along the Fore River. The RP sought compensation from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund under the limitation of liability provisions of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Compensation included expenses beyond statutory liability for response, NRDA assessment, and damages to natural resources among others.