Nov 18, 2007 12:17 pm US/Pacific
Many Beaches Reopen As Bay Spill Cleanup Continues
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/KCBS/AP/BCN) ―
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Crews work on San Francisco Bay oil spill cleanup.
AP
At least 15 beaches affected by last week's 58,000 gallon San Francisco Bay oil spill reopened Friday and Saturday as the massive cleanup effort transitioned from open bay waters and beaches to protected shoreline areas.
Important Phone Numbers:
To volunteer -- 800-228-4544
To report new oil sightings -- 415-398-9617
To report oiled wildlife – 415-701-2311
To file insurance claims – 866-442-9650
Four beaches in Pacifica (Esplanade, Linda Mar, Rockaway and Sharp Park) were reopened Friday as well as Steep Ravine and Red Rock beaches in Marin County, local officials said. The National Parks Service said it had reopened nine additional Bay Area beaches by Saturday afternoon.
Those were San Francisco's Baker, Fort Funston, China, Ocean and Chrissy Field beaches as well as Marin County's Point Reyes National Park, Limantour and RCA beaches.
City of Berkeley officials also said the prohibition against boat traffic in and out of the harbor at the Berkeley Marina, imposed after the oil spill, was lifted Friday.
Throughout San Mateo, San Francisco and Marin counties in Northern California, people who flock to the ocean for surfing, fishing and other pastimes are changing their plans because of the Nov. 7 oil spill. Many are heading to Half Moon Bay and further south, hoping to avoid the black slicks, tar and warning signs caused when the container ship Cosco Busan sideswiped the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and spilled bunker fuel into the bay.
The spill - the largest in the Bay Area in almost 20 years - fouled miles of coastline, prompted dozens of beach and marina closures and more than 1000 oil coated birds have died.
The shallow bay's swift currents quickly pulled the contamination through the Golden Gate and into the Pacific Ocean, causing dark smudges atop the ocean last week.
So far, the spill has cost the federal government $1.4 million. That cost does not include money spent in state or private cleanup efforts by the owner of the cargo ship that caused the spill when it struck the Bay Bridge on Nov. 7.
Most of the beaches impacted have now been cleaned of oil, authorities said, and were being monitored for any reappearance. Park service spokeswoman Chris Powell warned it was possible, however, that oil could return depending on winds and tides and advised beachgoers to remain alert.
On Monday, tar balls up to two inches in diameter washed ashore in Pacifica, prompting the San Mateo County Environmental Health Department to close nearby beaches for "precautionary measures." The agency placed beaches just south of Pacifica on "warning" status, though no oil has been seen there.
Several beaches in the Point Reyes National Seashore, Pacifica and in the Golden Gate National Recreation area of San Francisco reopened for swimming and recreation Saturday after officials deemed the waters safe.
"Would I hesitate to go in the water?" asked Steve Edinger, assistant chief of the California Department of Fish and Game. "No, I'd go in the water, if it were warmer."
Edinger emphasized the fishing ban was still in place and was likely to remain until at least Dec. 1, when the governor's emergency closure order expires. The ban is in place from San Pedro Point in the south to Point Reyes National Seashore in the north, and three miles offshore.
The department is also conducting seafood sampling now to determine whether fish and crabs are safe to consume.
Emergency response teams are still combing other seashores for washed-up globules of oil, and are likely to be doing so for months to come. To help people better track beach closures, reopening and cleanup efforts officials have set up a Web site: www.coscobusanincident.com.
The cleanup effort is now focused on rocky shorelines, such as Angel Island, according to Barry McFarland, a spokesman for the private firm hired to manage the cleanup.
He said consultation was underway with state and federal agencies to develop strategies for the cleaning of environmentally sensitive areas such as tidal marshes and salt flat areas.
Most of those areas had not yet been cleaned and efforts were made to get crews to those locations to clean them safely, McFarland said at a news conference Friday on Treasure Island.
He added that because of the lack of "any more observable floating oil" on the bay, crews started to remove some floating protective booms that were placed in the bay, which will allow vessels access to the waters.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, as of Friday, crews had recovered 16,974 gallons of oil from the 58,000-gallon spill that occured Nov. 7, when the Cosco Busan container ship sideswiped the Bay Bridge and then leaked thick bunker fuel into the bay waters.
The rest of the oil has likely either settled to the bottom of the bay, evaporated, or has washed ashore, said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Andrew Munoz.
The California Department of Fish and Game indicated Friday that wildlife rescue crews had recovered 951 live oiled birds, 197 of which either later died or had to be euthanized.
An additional 884 birds were found dead, though not all have yet been confirmed as oiled, spokesman Steve Edinger said.
At Pillar Point north of Half Moon Bay on Friday afternoon, wildlife officials celebrated "one of the successes of this oil spill," Edinger said, with the release of about 50 birds -- three different types of grebes -- that had been treated for oil exposure. More birds were expected to be released Saturday.
Federal prosecutors are conducting an on-going criminal probe into the cause of the spill, and the governor has launched an investigation into the spill's delayed cleanup effort.
In addition, the National Transportation Safety Board had said it would look into whether the Coast Guard's Vessel Traffic Service had the obligation to do more than it did to prevent the ship's collision with the bridge, which occurred in heavy fog.
But on Friday, Coast Guard Capt. Jim McPherson said that the VTS radar systems could not have clearly shown that the ship was about to collide into the bridge and spill oil.
He also emphasized -- that unlike Air Traffic Control -- it wasn't the VTS's role to put the ship on a different course. He said the agency's role in directing ships is purely advisory.
"We provide advisory assistance, but the captain and the pilot of the vessel are at all times in control of the vessel," McPherson said. It is not like air traffic control, when "you're taking direct control of that aircraft. It's a really important distinction."
That explanation prompted U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to call for granting the Coast Guard expanded powers in controlling the movement of ships.
"The Coast Guard should be able to control the direction and speed of ships when necessary," Feinstein said.
The senator also suggested that perhaps bunker fuel -- which the ship was carrying and environmentalists call "the dirtiest fuel on the planet" -- should be banned.
"There are serious questions over whether this kind of fuel should be used at all," Feinstein said after meeting with Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen. "It is used primarily because it is cheap. It has high carbon dioxide emissions and is extraordinary toxic to clean up."
Meantime, the first lawsuit stemming from the incident was filed Thursday -- by an Oregon crab boat operator who is suing the shipping company and others for economic losses that it claims total more than $100 million from the disruption of fishing following the spill.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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