An appeals board has reversed a state decision that threatened to bar any new oil-barge companies from lightening the loads of crude oil tankers as they arrive in Delaware Bay.The Coastal Zone Industrial Control Board ruled that Vane Line Bunkering Inc. of Baltimore should be considered for a permit to partially offload tankers that arrive too heavily laden to safely navigate the Delaware River's 40-foot-deep main shipping channel to the refineries upstream.Florida-based Maritrans has dominated Delaware Bay crude oil "lightering" for decades, operating by way of a subsidiary in Philadelphia.Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary John A. Hughes said in September that Vane Line's proposal would violate a ban on new bulk transfer operations in the protected Coastal Zone. Lawmakers barred new heavy industries from Delaware's part of the river, bay and Atlantic Coast and 275,000 acres of adjacent land in 1971.Coastal Zone Industrial Control Board members ruled last week in a 4-1 vote that lightering activities existed before the law took effect and have expanded since -- giving oil refineries the right to continue and to change barging practices and contracts under state oversight. "They ruled that it was the use, not the user" that is covered by the controls, said Dennis Brown, Coastal Zone planner for DNREC.The board's written opinion will be issued in December. DNREC can appeal the finding to Superior Court.Jane Barrett, an attorney who represents the Vane Brothers Co., parent of Vane Line, said the company wants to review the board's full opinion before deciding on its next step.Under the state's Coastal Zone regulations, eligible companies can seek permits for new or expanded services.
The process in some cases requires concessions that offset any environmental pollution or damage.Barrett said information from DNREC showed that other companies have lightered tankers in the bay over the years."We're glad that the commission gave it such a thoughtful consideration," Barrett said. "We understand the importance of the Coastal Zone Act and we believe that, in the long run, this decision will enhance the Coastal Zone rather than detract from it."More than 417 million barrels of crude oil arrived in the Delaware Bay in 2003, the most recent year for which statistics are available, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.