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Mississippi River oil spill Class Action Lawsuit

In a Mississippi River oil spill Class Action Lawsuit, Parker Alonso LLP represents two New Orleans residents that were the victoms of an oil spill that occurred on July 23, 2008 on the Mississippi river.   The lawsuit was filed last Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana by residents Stephen Marshall Gabarick and Bernard Attridge, seeking restitution for all residents and inhabitants impacted by the oil spill.

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The lawsuit claims that following the spill, prevailing winds exposed residents and inhabitants of the French Quarter and Uptown to toxic fumes that were spread from the collision site.  The allegations are that heavy oil has caused serious environmental damage to the river, and sensitive wetlands were also threatened, and the communities' water intakes also had to be closed to prevent contamination of water supplies. The spill had caused an 80-mile stretch of the Mississippi River to be closed. The claim is that the incident has caused loss of income to individuals and businesses who can no longer use the waterway.

The oil spill occurred at about 1:30 a.m., when a tanker and a barge loaded with fuel collided.  The barge ruptured, releasing more than 419,000 gallons of tar-like oil into the waterway. The barge’s owner immediately took responsibility for the spill. The  barge was being towed by the tugboat when the collision occured. However the US Coast Guard determined that no one had the proper licensing for piloting a tugboat.

Defendants of the class action lawsuit include Laurin Maritime, the Houston firm that operates the tanker MV Tintomara; that ship's owner, Whitefin Shipping Co. Limited; American Commercial Lines Inc., owner of the barge; DRD Towing, the company that owns the tugboat Mel Oliver; and the New Orleans-Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots Association, whose members that were in command of the Tintomara at the time of the accident.