A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
November 9, 2007
3. Watersheds
BAY AREA OIL SPILL:
Oil Spill Threatens Bay Area Wildlife - Associated Press
Dozens of birds killed, hundreds of thousands threatened by spill - San Francisco Chronicle
Oil spreads amid cleanup in Bay; Hong Kong shipowner apologizes for incident - Inside Bay Area
Birds at risk from oil in water; WILDLIFE CENTERS TRYING TO SAVE THEM - San Jose Mercury News
Pacific Coast beaches affected by oil spill from container ship - Associated Press
Seabirds' would-be rescuers can only watch in Marin Headlands - San Francisco Chronicle
Race to save birds, shore - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Oil oozes in San Francisco Bay after ship hits bridge; About 58,000 gallons of heavy fuel spilled, threatening wildlife and closing beaches - Los Angeles Times
Editorial: A disaster in the Bay - San Francisco Chronicle
FLOOD CONTROL:
Beaver quandary has city spellbound - Inside Bay Area
MARSH CREEK DEVELOPMENT:
Developers plan to merge creek into subdivision; BRENTWOOD: Environmental groups, naturalists applaud company's decision - Contra Costa Times
BAY AREA OIL SPILL:
Oil Spill Threatens Bay Area Wildlife
Associated Press – 11/9/07
By Terence Chan, staff writer
Dozens of dead and injured seabirds found coated in black goo are the most visible victims of a 58,000 gallon oil spill in the
The spill fouled miles of coastline, sending environmentalists scrambling Thursday to save the bay's birds, fish, invertebrates and marine mammals.
"The effects of the oil spill could persist for months and possibly years," said Tina Swanson, a fish biologist with the Bay Institute.
Meanwhile, questions persisted about why the Coast Guard took so long to report the scope of the spill.
The oil spilled from a South Korea-bound container ship when it struck a tower supporting the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in dense fog Wednesday. The accident did not damage the span, but the vessel's hull was gashed, officials said.
Tides carried a plume of heavy fuel beneath the
Wildlife rescue workers and volunteers combing beaches have found dozens of dead and injured seabirds coated in black oil, said Michael Ziccardi, director of the California Oiled Wildlife Care Network. Ten to 15 teams were to be dispatched Friday to search for more.
More than 30 oiled birds, mostly surf scoters that live on the water's surface, were taken to a mobile treatment center in
The oil seeps into the birds' skin, leaving them unable to maintain their body temperature, he said. Once covered in oil, the birds are forced to move ashore where they are at risk of starvation.
Wildlife officials are concerned that the region's sea lions and harbor seals could also be affected, though there were no confirmed reports Thursday of injured marine mammals.
The oil spill is bad news for the region's fish and fishermen.
Herring, the bay's only commercially fished species, spawn at this time of year, and the spill could affect the fishing season that begins in January, said Zeke Grader, who heads the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association.
The spill could threaten steelhead and chinook salmon that travel through the bay to spawning grounds in the
Scientists also are worried about the spill's effect on the longfin smelt, whose population has reached record low levels this year.
In August, environmental groups petitioned state and federal agencies to list it as an endangered species.
"This is exactly the kind of event that can push a species into extinction," said Swanson, of the Bay Institute.
As scientist worried about the future of the region's wildlife, authorities questioned the Coast Guard's response in the hours after the spill.
More than 12 hours after the incident, Coast Guard officials were still saying just 140 gallons had leaked, according to Mayor Gavin Newsom, who said the city would consider legal action against anyone found liable.
"We would have responded differently if we had accurate information from the get-go," Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard said. City workers, for instance, would have initially laid more boom lines to contain the oil, he said.
Sen. Barbara Boxer also criticized the Coast Guard's response in a letter sent Thursday to Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen, saying she was "very troubled by the Coast Guard's delay in delivering accurate information to the public and the city of
Coast Guard Capt. William Uberti, captain of the
"We mobilized as if it was a big spill right away," said Uberti.
Some 9,500 gallons of fuel was recovered, and 18,000 feet of booms were in place by Thursday afternoon, the Coast Guard said.
Authorities were still investigating the cause of the crash. #
Dozens of birds killed, hundreds of thousands threatened by spill
San Francisco Chronicle – 11/9/07
By Jane Kay, staff writer
The black oil spreading for miles from the Golden Gate is staining one of the richest wildlife regions on the
Fuel oil, lighter than crude but heavier than gasoline, can kill birds, fish and other creatures. The 58,000-gallon spill into the delicate mouth of the bay comes at an unfortunate time for migratory birds, such as the 150,000 ducks that have just flown 2,000 miles from
Dozens of dead and injured birds already have been found around the region, and hundreds more are likely to be spotted before the oil slick is mopped up, officials said.
By late afternoon Thursday, the oil had hit the
"This is going to be a mess. We'll see how big a mess," said Cheryl Strong, a biologist at the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The islands are part of the refuge.
Oil washing up on the beaches in
Fish will die if they eat the oil in the water or it gets in their gills, said biologists with state Fish and Game Department.
Harbor seals that come ashore at Point Bonita near the lighthouse under the bridge also are vulnerable to oil, as are Dahl's porpoises and harbor porpoises swimming off
"It's horrible," said Dr. Frances Gulland, a veterinarian at the
"It is shocking that it can happen in the bay under our very eyes," Gulland said.
Off the bay lies an area of almost 6,000 square miles protected as three federal marine sanctuaries - Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones and
By evening, at least three dozen oiled and dead birds had been picked up at Rodeo, Ocean and Stinson beaches, the Berkeley Marina and other beaches.
Injured birds can die quickly. The oil coats feathers that keep birds warm, causing them to get cold in the chilly bay water.
When the birds get out of the water, they stop feeding even though they need a constant supply of food to keep up with their high metabolism. If they preen their feathers, the oil can poison them, said Dr. Mike Ziccardi, director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network. The program, at UC Davis, organizes the wildlife aid response for the state Department of Fish and Game.
At the
Most of the birds found Thursday were surf scoters, a species of diving duck. Around 80,000 of the ducks arrive in the Bay Area every year by November, a majority of those wintering on the Pacific Flyway, an ocean feeding stop. About 80,000 greater and lesser scaups, two other species of diving ducks, also fly here to feed from
"They come here from the pristine boreal forests down to the
"They arrive after a journey of thousands of miles after making it through the
"Then they're fouled by oil and may die on the shores because they can't stay warm and get the oil off their feathers," Wells said.
Hundreds of reports of oiled birds from beaches ringing the bay and coast came into the hot line operated by the Oiled Wildlife Care Network. So many residents used the line to offer volunteer assistance that the network was temporarily shut down in midafternoon.
On Thursday morning, Josiah Clark, a consulting ecologist conducting a preliminary shorebird survey, saw two oiled ducks, a greater scaup and a northern shoveler as far north as
"We will be living with it for a long while," said Clark, a longtime birder with the Golden Gate Audubon Society.
Jay Holcomb, who leads the bird rehabilitation center in
"When we got between the
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/09/MNPCT93G5.DTL
Oil spreads amid cleanup in Bay;
Inside Bay Area – 11/9/07
By Erik N. Nelson, Paul Rogers and Mary Anne Ostrom, MediaNews staff writers
From Point Bonita in the Pacific to the
Meanwhile, Coast Guard officials defended the response to the spill — even after their initial reports Wednesday indicated only about 150 gallons of fuel had been spilled.
Wildlife authorities also combed area beaches, mostly on a hard-hit swath between
Tides carried a plume of heavy fuel beneath the
Officials had cleaned up 9,500 gallons of the marine bunker oil as of Thursday afternoon, after their delay in making public the true severity of the release.
Cleanup crews deployed 1,800 feet of floating oil-absorbing booms to contain the oil and protect environmentally sensitive or public areas.
Coast Guard officials said they knew within an hour the original report was too small, but couldn't get a full handle on the size of the spill until late afternoon.
Still, they waited at least five hours to divulge that 58,000 gallons had spilled.
Environmentalists and
Mayor Gavin Newsom said the city was considering filing a lawsuit against the shipping company and perhaps federal agencies.
"We would have responded differently if we had accurate information from the get-go," Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard told The Associated Press. City workers, for instance, would have initially laid more boom lines to contain the oil, he said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to visit the spill command center at
"We take this spill very seriously, and we will do everything we can to protect and preserve the beauty of
The Coast Guard also was unprepared to explain the whereabouts of the vessel's pilot, John Cota.
He had left the container ship before official investigators arrived. At first Coast Guard officials told reporters Thursday they were not able to take drug and alcohol samples from the pilot or interview him until he appeared at their request Thursday morning, 26 hours after the incident.
They later clarified that such tests were performed within a few hours and that the alcohol test results were negative. Drug test results won't be available for days.
By Thursday evening, ribbons of oil were reported as far south as Hunters Point, east to Oakland up through Raccoon Straits to Richmond, along the San Francisco waterfront, several miles outside the Golden Gate Bridge, from south of San Francisco's Ocean Beach to Marin County's Stinson Beach in the north. Marin beaches just north of the
"We mobilized as if it was a big spill right away," said Coast Guard Capt. William Uberti, in spite of an initial estimate, provided by the captain of the Cosco Busan, that the vessel was missing only 140 gallons of bunker fuel oil.
The ship hit the
Two of the ship's fuel tanks ruptured, and most of the fuel poured out within 20 to 30 minutes, Uberti said.
Cleanup effort
The cleanup effort was hampered by bad weather — a fog limited authorities' attempts to assess the spill — and tides that alternately pulled the oil toward the ocean and pushed it farther into the Bay.
About 200 people from at least 13 federal, state and local maritime, environmental and safety agencies worked on land and water Thursday, and another 100 were to join the effort today, said Barry McFarland, incident commander for the O'Brien's Group, a Brea-based disaster management firm hired to deal with the incident.
While oil sightings came in Wednesday from various locations along
The Coast Guard deployed 10 vessels equipped with cleanup gear, seven in the Bay and three in the Pacific. Their ability to pick up the drifting oil was limited by the thin concentrations in most areas, which make skimming difficult, Coast Guard spokeswoman Mariana O'Leary said.
Most of the 8,000 gallons of oil picked Wednesday and 1,500 gallons collected Thursdayby skimmers and stored in tube-shaped bladders towed behind Coast Guard cutters and other contracted ships were collected were the oil was thickest. That heavy concentration covered an area from
Meanwhile, journalists and officials dealing with the spill also had to sort through who exactly might be responsible for the spill.
Darrell Wilson, an Oklahoma-based public relations person, showed up at the waterside command center announcing that the ship's owner, Hong Kong-based Regal Stone Ltd., had hired him to speak for them.
He expressed regret on behalf of the firm as well as relief that no one had been injured, and said the ship had been leased by South Korean Hanjin Shipping.
A representative of Hanjin, however, said in a phone call from
Environmental impact
The environmental impact of the spill continued to spread Thursday.
Tar balls the size of golf balls had been spotted in the water outside the
The state Department of Fish and Game reported that 26 live oiled birds had been recovered and at least six had been found dead. The count of dead birds could easily reach the hundreds in the coming days, wildlife experts said.
There are no reports yet of mammals suffering from effects of the spill, according to the Marine Mammal Center, whose offices are at Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands.
While the spill isn't very large, it's still a "lot of oil for
Sejal Choksi, a spokeswoman for Baykeeper, a group that fights water pollution in the Bay, said it didn't appear that the Coast Guard moved as quickly as it could have.
"The Coast Guard doesn't seem to have boomed it off immediately enough because the spread of the oil has been great," Choksi said.
"It is really tragic," she added. "I'm not sure how it is going to get adequately cleaned up. We are going to see the impacts for quite some time."
Terry Picon was walking her dog Thursday at Crissy Field, a regular haunt for her and her black standard poodle, JB.
"I was just out there yesterday, looking at the sea lions and saying what a beautiful place," Picon said. "Then I heard on the news about the oil spill. It's awful. You don't expect it to happen in your own backyard. Sure sounds like somebody was asleep at the wheel."
For years biologists have been concerned that a significant oil spill in
Wednesday, signs were posted warning the public not to swim or fish in several areas, and a hot line was set up to take reports of fouled wildlife.
Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Anderson said the agency came up with the preliminary estimates by taking water samples from the Bay and comparing the liquid load on the vessel before and after the crash.
"It's a fairly complicated process," he said.
The last spill of this magnitude happened in 1996, when the
Beofre that, an explosion on another ship, the Puerto Rican, spilled 1.5 million gallons of oil in the open ocean off the
By comparison, the Exxon Valdez spill was 11 million gallons.
The collision had no effect on the bridge or anyone driving across it, and Caltrans engineers who examined the structure determined the vessel did not make contact with the actual concrete abutment,
Birds at risk from oil in water; WILDLIFE CENTERS TRYING TO SAVE THEM
By Barbara Grady and Erik N. Nelson, Bay Area News Group
Oblivious to the danger in the rainbow floating across
Another duck, although swimming in clearer water, preened its feathers and shook, as if trying to shed a foreign substance.
As thousands of gallons of bunker fuel spread throughout the bay and onto shore Thursday, the danger was particularly acute for the birds that call the water and the rocks along shore their home. Dozens, if not hundreds of birds, were found either dead or injured in the aftermath of the disaster.
By 11 a.m., the Berkeley Animal Care Shelter had rescued a duck from the Berkeley Marina and a tiny grebe from the
"There will be more birds," said Kate O'Connor, animal services manager at the Berkeley Animal Shelter. "I think there will be lots of calls," she added, noting that it was residents who had called to report the birds.
Elsewhere across the bay, authorities said that as many as six fouled birds had been found dead and another 21 were picked up for rehabilitation.
At the command center in
For the birds that survive and are brought in, there is a 50 percent to 75 percent chance that they will recover enough to be released back into the wild, said Michael Ziccardi, director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network that brought the trailer to
Ziccardi said his organization, based at the International Bird and
"Don't try to clean the birds yourself," advises the
http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_7414042
Associated Press – 11/9/07
By Scott Lindlaw, staff writer
Local officials and environmentalists criticized the Coast Guard for initially underreporting the amount of oil that leaked when a South Korea-bound container ship struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in dense fog Wednesday morning.
About 58,000 gallons poured into the water in what's believed to be the biggest spill in the bay since 1988. But more than 12 hours after the incident, Coast Guard officials were still saying just 140 gallons had leaked, according to Mayor Gavin Newsom, who said the city would consider legal action against anyone found liable.
"We would have responded differently if we had accurate information from the get-go," said Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard. City workers, for instance, would have initially laid more boom lines to contain the oil, he said.
Sen. Barbara Boxer also criticized the Coast Guard's response in a letter sent Thursday to Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen, saying she was "very troubled by the Coast Guard's delay in delivering accurate information to the public and the city of
Tides carried a plume of heavy fuel beneath the
"What we have here are ribbons of oil just going all over the place," Coast Guard Capt. William Uberti, captain of the
The ship, called Cosco Busan, had just left the
A Coast Guard log of Wednesday's events obtained by The Associated Press showed the Coast Guard briefed city officials around 1:25 p.m.
However, the log also suggests that both the ship's crew and some Coast Guard personnel vastly underestimated the scope of the spill at first.
About two hours after the collision, engineers aboard the cargo ship estimated about 146 gallons of fuel had leaked.
The Coast Guard began receiving reports from its own personnel that suggested a much bigger spill, including oil washing up on piers miles away, and "oiled birds and wildlife." Yet at 4:49 p.m., a team of Coast Guard, California Department of Fish and Game and
Uberti disputed that, saying Coast Guard personnel knew the full extent of the spill by around 4 p.m. He said the Coast Guard and private response firms responded immediately after the incident, and he rejected any suggestion that the crews could have contained the spill more quickly.
"We mobilized as if it was a big spill right away," said Uberti.
A series of factors appeared to contribute to the slow assessment. The ship's crew could not use its normal means of determining how much fuel had escaped because some of the equipment was damaged in the collision, authorities said.
Instead, they were forced to heat the gelatinous remaining fuel and transfer it to a different tank, then measure it, the officials said.
Other normal means of measuring the spill, such as visual assessments by boat or plane, were hampered by the fog, said Lt. Rob Roberts, an investigator with the California Department of Fish and Game.
"It was hard to see what was going on down at the waterline," he said.
Meanwhile, a hazy film of oil surrounded
"This is a very environmentally sensitive area, so it's of great concern," said Uberti, who canceled the swim portions of two triathlons scheduled for this weekend because of health concerns.
The coast north of
At least six oil-soaked birds were found dead, the Department of Fish and Game said.
"We're looking at almost everything being affected," said Sejal Choksi of the environmental group San Francisco Baykeeper.
Some 9,500 gallons of fuel was recovered, and 18,000 feet of booms were in place by Thursday afternoon, the Coast Guard said. Crews aboard two helicopters surveyed the damage as 11 skimmers sucked up the oil on the bay and ocean. Teams also walked the shoreline assessing and scooping up the oil.
Authorities were still investigating the cause of the collision.
The pilot, Capt. John Cota, was interviewed by Coast Guard authorities. He and other crew members were tested Wednesday morning for drugs and alcohol, and the results were negative.
If investigators conclude Cota acted negligently, he could lose his state-issued pilot license, Uberti said.
Cota did not respond to a call for comment Thursday.
He is in good standing and is one of the most experienced of the 60 captains who guide ships into the bay, said Patrick Moloney, executive director of the San Francisco Pilots Commission.
Cota has been involved in a few minor incidents during his 25 years on the bay, most recently when he ran aground in
Cosco Buson, built in 2001, is owned by Hong Kong-based Regal Stone Ltd., which had leased it to South Korea-based Hanjin Shipping for the voyage.
Barry McFarley, whose private recovery firm the O'Brien Group was hired by the ship's owner to handle its response to the spill, apologized to the public.
"I'd like to express our concern and regret that this incident occurred and assure the community and the public in the
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7413595?nclick_check=1
Seabirds' would-be rescuers can only watch in Marin Headlands
San Francisco Chronicle – 11/9/07
By Peter Firmrite, staff writer
Surfer Meghan McNertney watched from shore as the oil-soaked sea duck flapped wildly in the waves that pounded
The exhausted bird, known as a surf scoter, struggled onto the sand and flopped down, only to be swept underwater by the onrushing surf. The same disturbing scene played out at various beaches around the bay on Thursday.
McNertney, a 23-year-old Larkspur resident, had been planning a day of surfing, but instead was witness to the tragic consequences of the worst Bay Area oil spill in more than a decade.
She did more than watch, though. She dashed onto the beach, past National Park Service rangers and a barrier they had set up, slopped through the oil, and cradled the bird in her arms.
"You could see the oil in the water," McNertney said later. "This little duck bird was just stranded in the sand. The tide would come in and hit him, and he'd try to scramble. It was terrible. I felt I had to bring him in."
McNertney's friend, Maaike Snoep, 31, heated some water on a Coleman stove she had brought in the back of a van, and the two began trying to clean oil off the bird.
"It was all over his face, mouth and eyes," McNertney said. "We tried to get it off his beak and his eyes first, but it was just covered with oil. It was disgusting."
The seabirds, many of them recent arrivals after their annual winter migration, became the innocent victims of the aftermath of Wednesday's accident, when a container ship struck the
Bird and animal lovers rushed to the beaches to help with the cleanup Thursday, only to find that there was little they could do without proper equipment.
At
By Thursday afternoon, dozens of birds had been picked up by members of the network, an organization that operates out of UC Davis.
"They were well oiled," said Greg Massey, a veterinarian with the network.
The birds were sent to a rehabilitation center near
At
"She felt so concerned about the wildlife that she decided to enter the oil and get it all over her," said Robert Del Secco, the National Park Service ranger who scolded McNertney for endangering her health. But McNertney said she couldn't ignore a creature that was struggling for its life when nobody else was doing anything to help.
"The bird might not live," she said, "but I just had to help."
McNertney's bird was one of 18 oil-soaked scoters and other birds plucked alive off
"Nine of our beach areas are closed," said Chris Powell, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. "The worst of our beaches appear to be on the Marin side of the bay."
"There are a lot of birds here. This is a feeding area," said Jay Holcomb, the executive director of the
"This is where the surf scoter, the western grebe and other birds feed and spend their winters," Holcomb said. "A lot of these birds just arrived. We think there is going to be a significant impact."
Experts urged citizens not to touch birds or get near the oil. Even the fumes can cause dizziness in high concentrations. Still, citizens flocked to the shoreline to watch the disaster and offer their assistance.
"It's just heartbreaking," said Sally McFadden, a 49-year-old Larkspur bird watcher and amateur naturalist, who rushed to the coast to help only to be caught behind a barrier.
"It's disturbing," she said, her voice breaking as she struggled to hold back tears. "These are all beaches that I love and spend a lot of time on."
McNertney said she didn't even know about the spill until she arrived with her surfboard, smelled the oil and saw the bird struggling in the goop. She literally immersed herself in the disaster.
"I'm superdepressed," she said later as she stood in the beach parking lot, her skin smeared with black oil as she watched more birds struggle out of the water. "This just sucks. The birds are dying, and no one can surf either." #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/09/MN3TT959H.DTL
Race to save birds, shore
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 11/9/07
By Kerry Benefield, staff writer
Cleanup crews struggled to contain the 58,000 gallons of oil as wind, tides and the unpredictable flow of bay waters pushed to Hunter's Point and
The fuel entered two national marine sanctuaries, and oil-coated birds were plucked from the water.
At least eight area beaches were closed and two swimming events planned in the bay this weekend were canceled.
"What we have here are ribbons of oil just going all over the place," Coast Guard Capt. William Uberti said.
Officials declined to say when they expect area waters to be cleared or what, if any, lasting impact the spill will have on the fragile bay and ocean shores.
The container ship, which was bound for
On Thursday, two massive skimmers trailed long, absorbent booms west of the
Officials reported six dead birds, but said there will be more.
One dead bird floated, white belly up, in a pool of rainbow-colored water at a pier near
Despite sending 11 skimmers onto the bay and ocean, crews wearing bright yellow hazmat suits collected only 1,500 gallons of fuel Thursday. About 9,500 gallons have been collected since the accident.
Crews are working against the clock.
"The longer it is out there, the more chance the tides and wind have to push it around," Coast Guard Lt. Anya Hunter said.
Skimmers were docked at sunset because it became too dark to accurately spot concentrations of oil.
Officials deflected criticism Thursday that both the crew of the Cosco Busan and the Coast Guard had initially underreported the magnitude of the spill.
Initial calls indicated between 140 and 500 gallons were spilled after the Cosco Busan crashed into a support tower on the west span of the
The impact shredded scores of protective beams around the base, dismantled coiled barbed wire and stained the concrete with oil. The accident caused no structural damage to the span, officials said.
Uberti said his response team reacted according to information provided by crew members aboard the Cosco Busan immediately following the 8:20 a.m. incident.
"The ship provided it to us: 'Looks like 500 gallons or so.' That's what they said," Uberti said.
In reality, tens of thousand of gallons were gushing from a hole 100 feet long, 12 feet high and three feet deep.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was sharply critical of the response, but Uberti insisted the teams reacted properly.
"Within an hour, that's how fast we were there," he said. "We mobilized as if it was a big spill right away."
But the effects already are far-reaching.
Oil-drenched birds were spotted in the water, boat captains reported hulls coated in muck and area residents called the stench sickening. Black blobs of oil washed up on
"It's super depressing," said Brad Koester of
"On the beach, it's washing up black stuff," he said. "This is very, very bad."
Indeed, as boats cut across the bay, the normally white wakes were occasionally striped with black muck.
"This isn't stuff you would want to play in -- it's not nice stuff," said Mariana O'Leary, a Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class.
Carolyn and Paul Duggan, visiting from
"It actually probably makes it more interesting," Paul Duggan said, as a helicopter touched down a few hundred yards away after another observation run.
All crew members of the 6-year-old Cosco Busan and the pilot guiding the ship through the bay, Capt. John Cota, were tested for alcohol and drugs within two hours of the incident, according to the Coast Guard.
Cota also was interviewed by accident investigators Thursday morning.
Uberti initially reported that the pilot was not tested until 10 a.m. Thursday -- 26 hours after the collision. That statement was later retracted.
All alcohol tests were reportedly negative. Results for the drug tests are not expected back until next week.
Darrell Wilson, a spokesman for Cosco Busan's owners, Regal Stone Ltd., said the company is "fully committed to cooperating with the Coast Guard."
"We regret that this happened," he said. #
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20071109/NEWS/711090424/1033/NEWS01
Oil oozes in
By Eric Bailey, staff writer
Spread by the tides, the fuel slick from Wednesday's accident shut down several beaches and threatened shorebirds, seals and other marine mammals that make a home in the bay.
By Thursday afternoon, 26 oil-covered birds had been rescued by wildlife crews, while six birds were found dead. Hundreds more had been caught in the spreading slick, said Steve Edinger, assistant chief for the California Department of Fish and Game.
The slick had also spread outside the bay, as far as Tennessee Point in
"This is a significant event," Edinger said. "This is one we're very concerned about."
He said the last major oil spill in the bay occurred in 1996, when 10,000 gallons oozed out of a ship in a repair facility.
Melissa Hauck of the U.S. Coast Guard said eight oil-skimming boats were working to clean up the slick. By late afternoon, 9,500 gallons had been collected, as well as 3 cubic yards of oil in gel or solid form. The spill was of bunker fuel, a viscous fuel used on ships that is heavy and can be difficult to clean up.
Authorities also laid 11,000 feet of log booms around the 810-foot container ship Cosco Busan, which was towed to an anchorage off Candlestick Point in
The ship struck a steel and concrete buttress that protects one of the suspension bridge's massive support towers about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, gouging the hull on the front port side above the water line. Authorities said the bridge piling was not damaged and that the protective shield would be repaired.
Coast Guard officials said the Cosco Busan was being guided out of the bay by a pilot familiar with the waters when the accident occurred.
The spill in the bay is relatively small. The 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil off
Still, public officials voiced criticism that the Coast Guard initially underestimated it.
Hours after the accident, Coast Guard officials described the fuel leak as a relatively insignificant 140 gallons. But by Thursday morning, the estimate had skyrocketed to nearly 60,000 gallons.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) released a letter she wrote Thursday to the head of the Coast Guard, expressing dismay over the delay in accurately assessing the risk as well as questioning the investigation into the cause.
"Many questions remain as to why it took an entire day to determine the gravity of this spill, and whether the Coast Guard took appropriate measures to conduct drug and alcohol tests on the ship's pilot and navigators in a timely fashion," Boxer wrote to Adm. Thad W. Allen.
Coast Guard officials said the investigation was ongoing.
The fuel slick soiled at least nine beaches and parks:
Thirteen state and federal agencies set up a command center at
Oil slicks create problems for shorebirds by coating their feathers, robbing them of their natural ability to stay warm in the chilly bay water.
"It's sort of like a rip in a wetsuit," Edinger said. "They get cold, they beach themselves and they start preening their feathers. They can ingest oil, and that shuts down their digestive system. They lose energy and the ability to take on water and moisture."
Birds that escape the slick can fall prey to a different peril: They can't find food, become debilitated and may die.
Edinger said most birds being treated were surf scoters, but there were reports of gulls and other shorebirds being affected. He said the next two or three days could see the numbers of imperiled birds jump significantly.
Experts from the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, a UC Davis program, have been called in by Fish and Game. #
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bay9nov09,1,1303799.story
Editorial: A disaster in the Bay
San Francisco Chronicle – 11/9/07
Disaster hit
While we wait for more details about how an experienced bar pilot could have allowed a radar-equipped, 810-foot-long container ship smash into the Bay Bridge, a few questions leap immediately to mind. How could the Coast Guard - which has been working tirelessly to contain the spill - have misjudged the extent so completely? (Up until 9 p.m. on Wednesday, the Coast Guard said only 140 gallons had spilled from the container ship.) How bad will the damage be - and, because oil spills tend to stay toxic for a decades, for how long?
And as the pictures of oil-slicked birds and toxic beaches rolled in, we wondered about the most important question: What more can we do to protect our oceans and bays from these disasters? Because unfortunately, it doesn't look like they're going to stop happening.
Concerned residents have been flooding environmental organizations with phone calls. Before you run out to a beach, please take the time to find out what kind of help is needed in your area. Cleanup is likely to go on for months. #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/09/ED0MT8TP4.DTL&hw=water&sn=012&sc=234
FLOOD CONTROL:
Beaver quandary has city spellbound
Inside Bay Area – 11/9/07
By Denis Cuff, MediaNews staff writer
A raucous crowd of more than 150 people packed into the performing arts center at
At least six police officers were stationed around the meeting hall. Speakers in the strongly pro-beaver audience — many wearing commemorative T-shirts — bent council members' ears late into the evening, urging the council to reject the state's offer to permit relocation of the animals in favor of leaving them in place and bypassing their dam.
On Friday,
But the state Department of Fish and Game announced Tuesday it would permit the beavers to be moved to a new home yet to be approved. Many who spoke Wednesday had other opinions about what the city should do.
"This (the beavers) is a fantastic tourist attraction," said David Frey, a Pleasant Hill maritime consultant who believes the city should keep the dam in place and build a bypass around it so the creek would not flood.
"The beavers will pay for themselves." He said the beavers will attract people to the downtown from other areas. "Who else is going to come down here? What else have you got?"
A representative of the Humane Society of the
"This is not a perfect solution, but neither is relocation or trapping," said Curt Ransom, who is West Coast regional program manager for the Humane Society.
He said several areas in
Ransom also suggested that his agency could assist the city with birth control for the beavers to prevent them from multiplying and building other dams on the creek.
The family of two adult beavers and three offspring have become the talk of the town.
Unlike most wild beavers that live in relatively remote areas and are rarely seen by people, these animals and their dam were spotted by many children and adults who regularly checked the creek for signs of the animals.
But the dam the beavers built on flood-prone Alhambra Creek alarmed city flood control managers. Nearly $10 million has been spent to reduce flood control risks on the creek in the past decade after city residents had debated for years what to do about downtown flooding.
During a moderate rain storm Oct. 12, Alhambra Creek rose to within two feet of flood stage.
Some
"We will be in big trouble if we allow the beavers to multiply," she said. City officials said they are convinced leaving the dam in place would worsen flooding risks.
Tim Tucker, the
"The dam has to go," Councilman Mark Ross said shortly before the start of the meeting. Ross also said the city must come up with a plan if other beavers try to build dams on Alhambra Creek.
Placing protective screens or paint on tree trunks along the creek may discourage other beavers from colonizing Alhambra Creek, he suggested. The state Department of Fish and Game announced Tuesday it is willing to allow the beavers to be trapped and then quarantined at
MARSH CREEK DEVELOPMENT:
Developers plan to merge creek into subdivision;
Contra Costa Times – 11/9/07
Bi Hilary Costa, staff writer
Environmental advocates universally sing the praises of Marsh Creek as a natural jewel for
Yet the county's second- largest creek can be a bane to developers whose land it runs through and who often wind up walling the creek off from their neighborhoods to build out every available acre.
But Pinn Brothers Fine Homes, developers of
"Its a great, easy, productive way to provide open space," said Mike Moran, a naturalist with the East Bay Regional Park District at Black Mines Regional Preserve.
Moran worked with a number of conservation groups on a recent project to produce informational signs for Marsh Creek and is an advocate of protecting the creek's diverse plant and animal life.
Palmilla will feature a linear buffer of open space bookended by two parks, up to 400 feet wide, bordering the creek. It will create a natural and attractive transition from the neighborhood to the creek, said Dale Garren, vice president of Pinn Brothers'
"We're just glad we're going to have this little piece of nature near our housing," Garren said. "We think it's a real asset."
Pinn Brothers has taken pains to make this is an environmentally sound development.
Palmilla, which will open for sales in January, made headlines in August when it was announced as one of the nation's largest all-solar developments.
And to augment the creekside open space, Pinn Brothers is relocating nine well-established oak trees that were slated to be cut down to accommodate widening of
"It just takes oaks so long to get to any decent size. And to just cut them down seemed like such a shame," said
The city was advised by a professional tree mover that there is a 10 percent to 30 percent risk of mortality when moving such large trees, Eldredge said, because of potential damage or shock to the tree's root system in transit.
Garren said his company had no open space requirement because Palmilla is being built largely on redeveloped land but wanted to create the creekside open space because of the benefits it would have for the community.
Lindemuth is also a longtime member of the Friends of Marsh Creek Watershed conservation group and said it is important to preserve the creek as a vital resource for residents.
"Involvement in and around the creek and the creek's watershed particularly helps young people develop that ownership of their surroundings that they wouldn't otherwise have," Lindemuth said. #
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