ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — More lawsuits linger over the Golden Ray and the company hired to take the ship apart and remove it after it capsized in south Georgia almost three years ago.
The company hired to do that work is denying responsibility for damages during the dismantling.
"I believe that the community deserves answers," said Altamaha Riverkeeper Fletcher Sams.
Some environmental groups, including his, are tired of the court battle.
Glynn County government is pointing fingers at T&T Salvage, accusing the company in a lawsuit filed in February of negligence, in part because of the fires that happened on the ship in 2020 and 2021.
"We continue to have concerns about the amount of fuel that was left in the environment," Sams told First Coast News.
He's been documenting the environmental impacts of leaked oil from the ship and has been advocating for a natural resources damage assessment.
"The question of accountability is one thing. The question of how much damage is out there and what it will take to restore the resource is the bigger question," he said.
In response to the county's claims, attorney's for T&T Salvage say the company's contract with the ship's owner holds, 'Harmless T&T for any liability arising from injury or death occurring during salvage services.'
That may be important because we've learned from a separate lawsuit that a salvage engineer working on the ship died of heart disease in 2020.
His widow is suing because she says his death was the result of the salvage company failing to provide a safe workplace during the pandemic after he raised concerns about the 'dangerous workload and stress.'
Attorneys for T&T Salvage declined to comment.