The US federal government is planning to use a $15.3m payment from Kirby to pay for environmental restoration projects in the area impacted by a 2014 fuel oil spill.
But first, it is asking for the public to weigh in on an agreement with the barge owner to end a lawsuit over the incident.
The Justice Department is taking comments through 3 January on its consent decree filed during litigation over a spill in the Houston Ship Channel that followed a collision between a Kirby tug and barge and Cleopatra Shipping’s 43,193-dwt Summer Wind (built 2005).
The Kirby tug Miss Susan was faulted in the incident for crossing in front of the bulker in dense fog at a busy location known as the Texas City Y.
The US and the state of Texas sued Kirby in a US federal court in Houston at the end of last month to recover damages to the environment as a result of the 4,000 barrels of marine fuel oil that impacted 257 kilometres of coastline.
As part of the consent decree, Kirby neither admitted nor denied the allegations in the complaint.
Houston-based Kirby had already been paying for an assessment to determine the environmental damage from the incident.
The incident impacted sensitive marsh habitats, a national wildlife refuge, a protected national seashore and a Texas state park.
"Natural resources killed or harmed by the spill include birds, dolphins and other marine life, waters of the United States and the state, marshes, beaches, and subtidal habitats," US and Texas government lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
Of particular concern are bottlenose dolphins in Galveston Bay, which has seven populations called "stocks" in the areas impacted by the spill.
Funds will be deposited into a fund managed by trustees to pay for efforts to restore dolphin and bird populations, shoreline habitats and outdoor recreational facilities, in addition to paying other costs.
The public comment process may lead to changes to the settlement.
"The United States and the state reserve the right to withdraw or withhold their consent to the consent decree if comments received regarding the consent decree disclose facts or considerations that indicate the Consent Decree is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate," according to the agreement.
