Our Subscribers
Spill Center subscribers range from the largest truckload, LTL and private fleets, to small fleets, chemical, environmental and insurance companies, and truck leasing companies.
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Thomas Moses
President,
Spill Center
Tom Moses is an environmental attorney, former U.S. EPA toxicologist and president of Spill Center®, which he founded in 1990 as a 24/7 nationwide resource for companies at risk from hazardous materials releases. | |
Welcome
to Spill Center Update, the information service focusing on hazmat
transportation safety, risk avoidance and cost containment.
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Strict
Liability for Spill Incidents
Who
is liable for spills of hazmat, diesel fuel and other regulated materials after
an accidental release? Tom Moses, an environmental attorney and Spill Center
president, explains:
The
environmental and the spill liability laws are written in a way that no matter
who causes the release, the party who has care, custody and control of the material at the time of loss is the one
legally responsible to respond, contain and report the spill, remediate the
site and safely and legally dispose of the contaminated soil and material.
In
an accident where your truck is involved and it was not the driver's fault -
maybe a drunk driver collides with the truck and ruptures the saddle tank,
causing diesel fuel to spill - the liability for the spill is still yours. The
owner of the truck could seek reimbursement from the drunk driver, who had a
duty not to drive drunk and breached his duty, causing damages, but strict
liability laws make the trucking company responsible for the spill.
It
is in the company's best interest to respond and handle the spill as quickly
and cost-effectively as possible because it is easier to claim over and
successfully recover a small amount of money than to recover a couple million
dollars. Time is money. Even if the damages are not ultimately going to be paid
by your trucking company, you want to control those costs so you have a better
chance of getting reimbursement. The state police and environmental authorities
at the scene understand strict liability very well and are not going to look to
the drunk driver to report, respond, remediate and contain the release. They expect
the spill generator to do those things.
Improve
your preparedness to respond to spills by signing on with Spill Center. We have
more than 20 years of experience assessing and managing environmental spills
for clients throughout North America. Because of our client base, Spill Center
files more DOT 5800.1 incident reports than any other organization in the
country. As such, we were recognized with a seat on the US DOT's task force on
proposed rulemaking for the DOT 5800.1 Incident Report. For more information
about Spill Center services, go online to www.spillcenter.com or call me at 978-568-1922, X222.
Sincerely,
Tom Moses
President
Spill Center
22 Kane Industrial Drive
Hudson, Massachusetts 01749 |
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