Buzzards Bay Oil Spill Lawsuit Set to Start

A lawsuit brought by Massachusetts residents who say their property values dropped after a barge spilled nearly 100,000 gallons of oil in Buzzards Bay in 2003 is scheduled to start.

The New Bedford Standard-Times reports that the class action suit begins Monday in Brockton Superior Court.

The suit filed in September 2004 will focus on 15 properties on Leisure Shores and Crescent Beach.

The defendants are Bouchard Transportation, B No. 120 Corp. and Tug Evening Tide Corp.

About 98,000 gallons of oil spilled in April 2003 when a Bouchard barge struck a ledge, polluting more than 100 miles of shoreline, killing birds and closing shellfish beds for months. Evidence of the spill is still visible today.

Bouchard paid a $10 million civil fine.

The trial is expected to take two weeks.