November 4, 2005

ROMNEY DELIVERS OIL SPILL EMERGENCY RESPONSE TRAILERS TO BUZZARDS BAY COMMUNITIES

NEW BEDFORD - Coastal communities in southeastern Massachusetts today received state-of-the-art emergency response equipment thanks to oil spill legislation signed into law last year by Governor Mitt Romney.

Romney, state environmental officials and local legislators were on hand to deliver trailers and other gear to equip first-responders with the tools they need to act immediately in the event of an oil spill.

On April 27, 2003, Buzzards Bay was the site of a massive oil spill when a Bouchard Transportation barge struck rocks and spilled 98,000 gallons of industrial fuel oil into the bay.

“The Buzzards Bay oil spill had a profound impact on the environment and quality of life here on the South Coast, and we vowed at that time to do all we could to prevent such disasters from happening again,” Romney said. “We have delivered on that promise. Our vessel safety requirements are stronger, financial penalties have been significantly increased, and now Buzzards Bay coastal communities have the emergency equipment they need if disaster strikes again.”

Last year’s Oil Spill Act created several preventive measures to ensure the safe passage of hazardous cargo through Massachusetts waterways. It also established a trust fund paid for by oil companies to purchase equipment and provide training for coastal communities that may have to respond to an oil spill emergency. The approximate $300,000 cost of the trailers delivered today was paid for out of this fund.

“Every environmental spill immediately becomes a local incident,” New Bedford Mayor Kalisz said. “This means our first-responders will now have the additional equipment and capacity to ensure a significant, meaningful response during those crucial first hours.”

The communities receiving the emergency response trailers today were New Bedford, Westport, Fairhaven, Mattapoisett, Marion, Wareham, Bourne, Falmouth and Sandwich. The town of Gosnold will also be receiving two trailers to be placed on the separate islands of that community. The town of Dartmouth received its trailer in June.

“When the spill oiled 84 miles of coastline that day, more than 178,000 acres of shellfish beds were closed, hundreds of birds were killed, and sensitive natural resources were changed forever,” Environmental Affairs Secretary Pritchard said. “Now we have put essential emergency equipment right into the hands of the first-responders so that they can act quickly to mitigate the impact during those first crucial hours after a spill.”

Each trailer is 20 feet long by eight feet wide, and contains thousands of feet of boom materials, floats and anchors, absorbent pads, storm drain plugs, life vests and personal protective equipment.

“The Bouchard spill in 2003 taught us how important it is to have our local responders prepared for action in the event of another devastating oil spill,” said Ben Bryant, Marine Policy Specialist for the Coalition for Buzzards Bay. “The Coalition commends the Commonwealth's efforts to prevent another disaster by passing strong oil spill prevention legislation while at the same time providing training and equipment to the municipalities to help protect the Bay.”

Based on the success of the Buzzards Bay pilot program, the Commonwealth plans to expand delivery of emergency response trailers and training to other coastal communities in the coming months.

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