Legal Remedies Available to Persons Who Are Injured or Whose Property Is Damaged by 94,000 Gallons of Aviation Fuel Released at Naval Air Station Oceana on May 11, 2017

5月11日, 2017 the Navy announced that approximately 94,000 gallons of jet fuel (JP-5) were released from a bulk “fuel farm” at Naval Air Station Oceana.  The spilled fuel leaked into a waterway that carried the JP-5 into the surrounding community where it reached nearby residential properties. 

A multi-agency government team is working to contain 和 then clean up the spill.  The federal laws that force the spiller to clean up the spill are the Resource, Conservation 和 Recovery Act (“RCRA”), 42 U.S.C. §§6901至6992k, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation 和 Liability Act (“CERCLA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601 to 9675 (see especially 42 U.S.C. §9607), 和 the Clean Water Act 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 to 1388 (see especially 33 U.S.C. §1321 和 the National Contingency Plan at 40 C.F.R. 300年部分). 

There are legal remedies that allow persons to recover for damage to private property 和 any personal injuries caused by this spill.[1]  State law affords remedies at common law 和 in statute. 

The common law claims are nuisance, 疏忽, 侵权行为, 和, depending on the circumstances, strict liability for engaging in an ultra-hazardous activity. 

Even better, the State Water Control Law, at Virginia Code § 62.1-44.34:18(C)(4) provides a very broad damages remedy to any “person for injury or damage to person or property, 真实的还是个人的, 收入损失, loss of the means of producing income, or loss of the use of the damaged property for recreational, 商业, 工业, agricultural or other reasonable uses, 由“泄漏”引起的.

吉姆·朗是彭德尔人 & 皇冠线上买球平台 shareholder focusing his practice on oil spills 和 other matters relating to water 和 environmental law.  联系 him with questions by calling (757) 502-7326 or by sending an email to jlang@kgfascist.com.

[1] The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA 90”), 33 U.S.C. §§ 2701 to 2762) is no help because the broad remedies conferred on private persons damaged by a spill apply only in the case of an “oil” spill.  Aviation gasoline, such as JP-5, is not “oil” for purposes of OPA 90.