Dartmouth Fire Department No. 3 v. Quality Oil Co.

Williams, PJ.

A truck owned by the defendant, Quality Oil Co., Inc. (“Quality”), overturned on an icy roadway, causing an oil spill. The plaintiff, Dartmouth Fire Department No. 3 (“Dartmouth”), helped clean up the spill, and eventually sought reimbursement for its expenses from Quality pursuant to G.L.c. 21E, §4, a section of the Massachusetts Oil and Hazardous Material Release Prevention and Response Act.1 The trial judge awarded Dartmouth the replacement costs for fire gear under §4 without depreciating the value of it. Quality appealed, urging that the value should have been depreciated.…