Eleventh Circuit Holds That The Oil Pollution Act Does Not Create A Right Of Contribution Against United States By A Vessel Discharging Oil

• Published date: 01 March 2022
• Subject Matter: Environment, Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Energy and Natural Resources, Oil, Gas & Electricity, Trials & Appeals & Compensation, Clean Air / Pollution
• Law Firm: Lane Powell
• Author: Ms Katie Matison

Earlier this month, a Panel of the Eleventh Circuit considered two issues of first impression construing contribution and liability of a vessel owner under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 ("OPA") 33 U.S.C. ' 2701 - 2720. In Savage Services Corporation v. United States of America'F. 4^th - (11^th Cir. 2022), the Court held that OPA did not create a cause of action for contribution for the cost of oil removal by a vessel operator against the United States. Second, the Court determined that a vessel pushing a tank barge discharging oil into the navigable waters of the United States could not be shielded from all statutory liability for remedial costs by asserting that the federal government was solely negligent. Finally, the Panel held that the comprehensive liability scheme within OPA both displaced and preempted a vessel owner's claim against the United States arising under the Suits in Admiralty Act, 46 U.S.C. ' 30901- 30918 ("SSA").

The 2019 Oil Spill on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

The fateful oil spill occurred on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (the "Tenn-Tom") which is a navigable manmade water network consisting of dams, locks, and canals connecting the Tennessee River in Mississippi with the Tombigbee River in Alabama. The Tenn-Tom is a 234 long waterway constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ("Army Corps") and completed in 1984. Seventeen public ports and terminals are located along the Tenn-Tom. Ten locks were constructed within the Tenn-Tom Waterway. A photograph from the opinion is below.

In mid-September 2019, the M/V SAVAGE VOYAGER, owned by Plaintiff Savage Services Corp. ("Savage") pushed two tank barges down the Tenn-Tom. A tank barge is a vessel without propulsion designed to carry oil cargo or other liquid cargo. The M/V SAVAGE VOYAGER entered the Jamie Whitten Lock, which is a boat lift operated by the Army Corps. Savage asserted that once the barge was within the lock, the Army Corps prematurely lowered the water in the lock by 60 feet, bending and distorting the rake of the barge. A cargo tank was pierced, spilling crude oil into the navigable waterway. A photo of the barge from the decision is below.

Savage removed the crude oil from the Tenn-Tom at a cost of approximately $4 million. Savage then sued the United States in admiralty under the SSA seeking to recover its costs. Specifically, Savage contended that the Army Corps was negligent in its operation of the Jamie Whitten Lock. The United States District Court in...