Race to save birds, shore
An oil slick floats past Alcatraz with the Bay Bridge and San Francisco skyline in the background Thursday a day after a container ship slammed into the Bay Bridge.
ERIC RISBERG / Associated PressPublished: Friday, November 9, 2007 at 3:51 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 9:00 p.m.
SAN FRANCISCO -- A greasy sheen of fuel, doppled with tarlike gobs of oil the size of dinner plates, spread over San Francisco Bay and drifted as far north as Stinson Beach on Thursday, a day after a massive container ship crashed into the Bay Bridge.
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 Oakland's waterfront, and as far as Ocean Beach and Stinson Beach beyond the Golden Gate.
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 South Korea, has been moved to South San Francisco; officials said it was no longer leaking from the gash caused when it hit the bridge in dense fog.
On Thursday, two massive skimmers trailed long, absorbent booms west of the Golden Gate Bridge in the open waters of the Pacific Ocean to collect oil while releasing water. The smell of gas was nearly overwhelming.
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 Fort Mason.
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 Bay Bridge.
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 Rodeo Beach and Tennessee Cove in Marin County.
"It's super depressing," said Brad Koester of San Francisco, pausing from a bike ride on a road high above Kirby Cove in the Marin Headlands.
"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 Christchurch, New Zealand, said they were not discouraged by the ribbons of yellow caution tape barring their entry to the beach at Crissy Field.
"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.
You can reach Staff Writer Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat
.com.
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