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On August 4, Congress finally passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, ending nearly two decades of squabbling over what the nation’s laws dealing with oil spills would be. Congressional Quarterly called it “possibly the harshest action Congress has ever … Continued

Hawai`i is one of the 20 or so states having no statutory limit on liability in the event of an oil spill, which makes it – at least in theory – able to recover more than the liability ceiling set … Continued

This reconstruction of events the evening of Tuesday, November 6, was stitched together from testimony given to the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board in hearings under their auspices November 13, 14, and 15. The Unmooring 6:49 p.m. … Continued

When the Star Connecticut reefed, it was bound for refineries in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas, carrying several types of partially refined oil products from PRI’s Hawaiian Independent Refinery, Inc., as well as 462,000 gallons of its own … Continued

Hawai`i’s spill response capability has not been tested against an oil release of catastrophic proportions. Nonetheless, there have been some close calls — most recently the reefing of the Star Connecticut on the evening of November 6 last. The tanker … Continued

It was a dark and stormy night… The setting may be a cliche, but little else is in the scenario developed by the Coast Guard to describe what it calls a “reasonable worse-case” scenario for an oil spill in Hawai`i. … Continued

Saving Hawai`i, Saving Water, Saving the ‘Alala Susan Manuel, environmental columnist for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, and writer Jerry Hopkins are co-authors of “50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save Hawai`i,” providing a local twist on the national trend to … Continued