A group of fishermen and other coastal business owners have filed lawsuits over environmental harm caused when a cargo ship capsized off the Georgia coast 3 years ago.
The two lawsuits filed last week claim monetary damage and loss of business after the Golden Ray capsized on Sep. 8 2019, while transporting 4,300 vehicles and more than 300,000 gallons of fuel. The subsequent clean up and recovery process took nearly 2 years to complete.
The suits accuse the Golden Ray’s owner and the salvage company of negligence and of violating the federal Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution act. Plaintiffs are asking the court to order the companies to pay civil penalties, remediate the sound and award compensatory damages.