58,000 Gallons of Oil Spill into San Francisco Bay
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 11.10.07
State and local officials were left wondering what exactly went wrong in the wake of a 58,000 gallon oil spill in San Francisco Bay - the largest such spill since 1988 - this past Wednesday. The Cosco Busan, a South Korea-bound container ship, struck one of the Bay Bridge's steel and concrete buttresses Wednesday morning as it was being guided out; the impact gouged the hull, precipitating the massive spill.
The U.S. Coast Guard has come under heavy criticism for initially underestimating the size of the spill, describing it early on as a 140 gallon fuel leak; the estimate was quickly revised on Thursday morning to a hefty 60,000 gallons. Officials are now worried about the impact the fuel slick will have on surrounding beaches and the local wildlife, including shorebirds, seals and other marine organisms.
"The effects of the oil spill could persist for months and possibly years," said Tina Swanson, a fish biologist affiliated with the Bay Institute. According to the latest estimates, hundreds of birds have already been caught by the spreading slick, with thousands more likely to come as it continues moving out to sea - some oil having already been sighted 15 miles north of San Francisco.
Though Coast Guard officials have so far been able to collect close to 10,000 gallons of the spilled oil, they fear the slicks could yet reach more sites. It has already soiled at least nine beaches and parks in the area. "This is a significant event. This is one we're very concerned about," said Steve Edinger, assistant chief for the California Department of Fish and Game.
Via ::San Francisco Chronicle: Oil oozes in San Francisco Bay after ship hits bridge (newspaper), ::Associated Press: Experts: Oil Spill Is Threat to Wildlife (news website)
See also: ::Touring an Oil Spill Twice the Size of Exxon Valdez — in Brooklyn, ::Unintended Side Effects for Corals
Oh wow, what a nasty mess that is.
That's what you get for transporting oil.
Lots of nastiness in the water, and in the air. It's just so bad.
I bike to work about 3 times a week, and drive a hybrid, and yet I still feel partly responsible... we all are. Why are they transporting oil? Fill up our tanks.
My next car will definately be electric only. I want to have as little to do with these sorts of disasters as possible. Oil industry fuels our economy, but destroys pretty much everything else.
Unless I'm reading this wrong, this wasn't wasn't an oil tanker. It was a normal container ship, going from SF to Korea. I assume it had just been filled up with oil. So, one can assume it was going to use all 60,000 gallons on its journey.
biking to work and using an electric car are wonderful ways to modify our lifestyles in a positive direction - but like the article says, this was a shipping container and perhaps our bikes and future electric car parts came off this thing... If at all possible and as a general rule, purchasing post-consumer items would diminish this demand significantly. Too bad ships can't run on KFC grease like any modified biodiesel truck - the birds and fish would be loving it at this point!
That's right. It wasn't an oil tanker just a container ship.
The ship was under the command of a Bay pilot, someone familiar with the area and experienced moving these hulking beasts in an out. And he still hit the bridge. The opening is 2000 feet wide and he still hit the bridge.
Maybe he screwed up, read some instrument wrong, wasn't paying attention. We don't know. But d*mn. Something this bad should have more safeguards. It shouldn't rest on one guy not making a mistake.
It's a real mess out here. I'll be in Tiburon today. I expect it to be ugly.
i think environmentalist could take part of the blame . if they would let us drill oil here in the states, wouldnt be much to worry about oil spilling in the ocean, bay,lake or what have you! and oil would be cheaper ,we wouldnt have to rely on foreign countries for the oil we ALL use. even though you ride a bike to work ,walk we all use oil in some shape or form ..let us find the oil here before we pay 5$ -7$ a gallon
>if they would let us drill oil here in the states
Where have you been? There IS no oil to be had in the US.
hybrids and electric cars are nice social statements.....but until they are the staple in our transportation methods, dont expect the tankers to stop coming....the tankers/container ships are tranporting oil/petrolium and finished goods for the (direct/indirect) mfg and purchase of comsumer goods.....so until we stop consuming dont expect the tankers to stop coming.....mfg of domestic oil will still need to be transported from its source to distrubution centers around the globe/USA in order for it to enter the mfg/consumer stream.....until we cease our desire for oil/petrol dependent products, dont expect the tankers to stop coming.
if we start paying 5-10 bucks for a gallon of gas, im sure our dirivng habits will change accordingly......as well as our individual CF.
I found an great blog through TelstartLogistics.com it is at gCaptain.com and their blog is written by a ship captain with very smart insight into the incident. -TK
bad boat u got there. the oil spill kill coral reef in the ocean
bad boat u got there. the oil spill kill coral reef in the ocean
I LOVE TO HELP BUT IF I WAS HERE I LOVE TO HELP
While reading Telstar Logistic's excellent blog I found a great blog written by a real ship captain that's covering the incident. It provides an inside look into the maritime culture and technology that caused the spill; gCaptain's Maritime Blog
Their coverage of the incident can be found here: Cosco Busan
ok, pretty much all of these comments are saying whoose falt it is, and that we need to use bikes and electric cars. but has anyone thought about the cleanup? this is going to be a HUGE deal....my science class did an experiment on an oil spill, and we had to figure out how to clean it up.... and it was hard, there was maybe an ounce of oil in a 9x13 pan of water. and trying to come up w/ ways and to get it out, and then clean up the shore, and the wildlife.......i cant imagine 58,000 gallons....in a HUGE area to cleanup.
just think about it.