Local clammers crying out for justice in the wake of a fuel spill that is apparently connected with the extermination of clambeds adjacent to Logan Airport runways have filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against the Massachusetts Port Authority and Swissport/BOS Fueling.
With their suit, the clammers are attempting to be compensated for losing a source of their business due to the die-off in the clam beds that followed a jet fuel spill which in all likelihood could not have come from anywhere but the airport.
Massport and Swissport/BOS have not cooperated fully, according to the 19 clammers, whose lawsuit seeks justice.
Clammers in the area they are detailing in their lawsuit, have clammed the affected flats for about 100 years.
The death of the clam flats has been a severe jolt to the ecosystem and ecology in the area has been greatly affected by the jet fuel spill.
Early investigations by certified laboratories of the clams that died indicated that the clams died of poisoning from elements contained in jet fuel.
So there are real and compelling links to the Logan Airport jet fuel spill and the death of the clam flats adjacent to the airport (known as the Wood Island Flats) and near to the place where the spill allegedly occurred.
A federal lawsuit compels all the parties to answer serious questions and to that end, the lawsuit is a welcome part of this evolving story.
Perhaps in Federal Court the clammers will get what they are looking for – some real answers and compensation for losing their livelihood.
As for the clams, it has now been two years since the jet fuel spill and a not a clam has been found to harvest in the Wood Island Flats.
In court, all the parties will be made to answer, then and only then will some answers be forthcoming.