## Facts

- The M/V BIG SAM, a towboat owned by Zito Towing, Inc. and bareboat chartered to Tri-Capt, Inc., navigated the Mississippi River on April 25, 1975.
- BIG SAM’s operators, using negligent navigation and an inexperienced pilot, collided with the tank barge BUTANE, owned and operated by Delta Barge Line.
- The parties conceded the collision was caused solely by BIG SAM’s negligence.
- The collision caused approximately 280,000 gallons of oil to discharge from the BUTANE into the river.
- Delta Barge Line undertook initial cleanup and intake protection, then the U.S. Coast Guard took over; the United States incurred substantial additional cleanup expenses.
- The United States sought to recover its cleanup costs from BIG SAM (in rem) and related defendants (including owner and charterer), even though BIG SAM was not the vessel from which oil physically discharged.
- The dispute arose under Federal Water Pollution Control Act (Clean Water Act) § 311, including: (i) strict-liability provisions for dischargers and certain third parties, and (ii) a savings clause stating § 311 liabilities do not affect government rights against third parties whose actions caused or contributed to the discharge.

## Issues

1. Whether Clean Water Act § 311(g) provides the exclusive basis for the United States to recover oil-spill cleanup costs from a negligent, non-discharging third-party vessel, limiting recovery to statutory caps and specified liable parties.
2. Whether § 311(h)(2) preserves the United States’ preexisting maritime tort remedies against third parties whose negligence caused or contributed to the discharge, permitting full cost recovery.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit (en banc) affirmed the panel’s result reversing dismissal and allowing the United States to proceed.
- The court held § 311(g) is not an exclusive remedial scheme that displaces maritime tort claims against negligent third parties.
- The court concluded § 311(h)(2) preserves the United States’ rights to pursue maritime tort remedies against third parties whose conduct caused or contributed to an oil discharge.
- The United States could pursue in rem relief against the vessel and in personam liability against responsible entities, seeking full cleanup costs rather than only statutory-limited amounts.
- The matter was remanded for further proceedings consistent with allowing maritime tort recovery.

## Legal Principles

- A statutory strict-liability remedy for oil-spill cleanup costs does not bar fault-based maritime tort remedies when Congress includes an express savings clause preserving government rights against third parties.
- Clean Water Act § 311(h)(2) preserves the United States’ ability to sue “any third party” whose actions “caused or contributed” to a discharge, including negligent non-discharging vessels.
- Clean Water Act § 311(g) may supply an additional strict-liability basis for recovery against qualifying third parties, but it does not eliminate broader maritime tort liability where preserved by statute.
- Prior decisions limiting extra-statutory remedies against “dischargers” under § 311 do not control third-party cases when the statute expressly preserves claims against third parties.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit held that the Clean Water Act’s third-party provisions do not preempt the United States’ traditional maritime tort claims against a negligent, non-discharging vessel whose collision caused an oil spill, allowing the government to seek full reimbursement of cleanup costs through in rem and in personam maritime remedies.


United States v. M/V Big Sam, 693 F.2d 451 (5th Cir. 1982) (en banc)