Bay remains vulnerable one year after Cosco Busan spill
By: John Upton
Examiner Staff Writer
November 7, 2008
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| A sign keeping people away from the Berkeley Marina on November 12, 2007 in Berkeley, California. A 58,000 gallon oil spill occurred after the freighter ship Cosco Busan hit the base of the Bay Bridge last Wednesday. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) (Getty Images) |
SAN FRANCISCO — One year after a container ship clipped a Bay Bridge support tower, flooding the Bay with oil, environmental and clean-water advocates say some of the problems that hampered emergency cleanup efforts remain unfixed.
In the wake of the Cosco Busan spill on Nov. 7, 2007, state and federal lawmakers clamored to draft legislation to address the delayed and inadequate response by government and private industry that exacerbated the damage caused by the more than 50,000 gallons of oil that gushed from the ship’s hull.
The Cosco Busan struck the Bay Bridge support tower while trying to navigate through heavy morning fog; by sundown, the tides had spread the oil slick throughout the Bay. Some cleanup workers and equipment, however, were not put to work until days after the incident.
Additionally, thousands of would-be volunteers were ordered not to help scour oil from their local beaches, and federal and state agencies failed to efficiently share information about the spill with each other or with San Francisco and other local agencies, subsequent investigation reports revealed.
Adding to the Bay’s woes, floating barriers deployed to corral the oil quickly tipped over in the Bay’s strong tides, an official with the Marine Spill Response Corp. told a Harbor Safety Committee, a multiagency committee of local, state and federal agencies.
While one-third of the spilled oil was recovered, most of the fuel sank to the bottom of the Bay, became buried beneath shoreline sand, washed out to sea or evaporated, according to U.S. Coast Guard figures.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has since signed seven bills into law to help protect waterways from future spills. The bills improve government coordination and oversight and improve volunteer training.
However, the governor vetoed three of the bills that environmental advocates described as among the most critical to helping protect the Bay.
One vetoed bill would have allowed the state to raise oil taxes from 5 cents to 8 cents per barrel to increase funding for the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response, which has millions in cash reserves but is running a $3 million annual deficit.
The additional taxes could have helped improve decades-old oil-spill cleanup and control technology and equipment by funding grants under a bill authored by San Francisco Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco. That bill was also vetoed.
In his veto statement, Schwarzenegger said the spill prevention and response office already monitors and evaluates new response technologies.
Leno told The Examiner that the veto means California will “continue to rely upon antiquated technologies” to manage spills.
“The booms that are currently being used were deemed to be successful in recovering only a fraction of the oil that was spilled,” Leno said. “I think we can all agree that was unacceptable.”
The third vetoed bill, written by San Francisco state Sen. Carole Migden, would have required cleanup firms contracted by shipping companies to be able to respond to spills within two hours. To meet this requirement, the firms would have been required to increase their staff and equipment inventories throughout the state.
It took first responders about 2½ hours to reach the Cosco Busan spill Nov. 7, but cleanup efforts were thwarted by heavy fog that prevented helicopter flyovers that were needed to locate the spreading slick.
The governor said he vetoed the bill because its mandates could jeopardize the safety of spill responders in some “potentially unsafe circumstances.”
Sejal Choksi with the nonprofit San Francisco Baykeeper said the two-hour rule would have helped protect the environment if it had become law.
“Containment within two hours is critical, because you don’t want the oil to spread throughout the Bay,” Choksi said. “It’s a lot harder to recover and a lot harder to clean up once it spreads on the tides.”
Oil spill legislation
Signed by governor:
AB1960: Tightens regulations designed to prevent spills at oil refineries and pipelines.
AB2031: Requires prompt notification of local agencies following an oil spill.
AB2911: Improves training programs that teach volunteers to rescue oiled wildlife.
AB2935: Prioritizes oil spill response efforts in ecologically sensitive habitats.
SB1217: Increases state oversight and medical reporting requirements for Californian bar pilots.
SB1627: Increases state oversight of the Board of Pilot Commissioners.
SB1739: Increases training drill requirements for oil spill response companies.
Vetoed:
AB2032: Increase funding for Oil Spill Prevention and Administration Fund through oil taxes.
AB2547: Establish grants program to improve oil-spill cleanup equipment and procedures.
SB1056: Require cleanup crews to be able to respond to oil spills within two hours.
Source: Legislative Counsel of California
Herring eggs malformed by Cosco Busan spill
Preliminary results from a multiyear effort to assess the environmental harm caused by the Cosco Busan oil spill have confirmed some fears held by fishermen and ecologists for the local herring population.
The baitfish swarms into the Bay every winter to spawn, laying eggs on rocks, eelgrass and other surfaces. Herring are a key source of food for shorebirds and marine mammals, and commercial fishermen catch them in nets before they can lay their eggs, which are a delicacy to Japan.
Herring eggs in areas directly impacted by the Cosco Busan spill last year were so badly malformed that they would not be able to survive, according to an October report by the state and federal agencies preparing the damage assessment.
However, herring eggs collected outside of the affected area were “largely normal,” and scientists did not detect any effect of the spill on the number of herring hatched last winter in the Bay, according to the report.
Herring fisherman Ernie Koepf, who serves as a fishing advisor to the California Department of Fish & Game, said it’s “well known” that petroleum distillates have a devastating impact on herring embryos.
The herring fishery at Prince William Sound was destroyed following the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, but Koepf and others said it will take years before the effects on the Bay’s herring from the much-smaller Cosco Busan spill become clear.
“We’re watching with great interest,” Koepf said.
A full report into the environmental impacts of the Cosco Busan spill might be finished within a year, according to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service spokesman Al Donner.
The report will be used to determine the compensation the government demands from companies linked to the Cosco Busan, with proceeds directed toward restoration projects.
Environmental toll of the Cosco Busan spill
2,525: Birds killed by the spill and recovered by authorities
418: Oiled birds rescued and rehabilitated
52: Miles of sandy beach coastline oiled by the spill
10: Miles of saltmarsh coastline oiled by the spill
1 to 5: Years before the coastlines recover from the spill
54,000: Gallons of fuel spilled
20,000: Gallons of oil recovered from water*
*Doesn’t include oil recovered from shorelines
Sources: Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Planning for the Cosco Busan Oil Spill, October update; U.S. Coast Guard.
After a year in California, Chinese crew hope to return home
Some of the crew aboard the Cosco Busan when it crashed one year ago are scheduled to appear before a judge today to ask, once again, to finally be allowed to return home to China.
None of the six crewmembers who have been held in northern California since the shipping accident has been charged with any crimes. They are being held on witness warrants and have posted bonds to avoid incarceration, surrendered their passports and they risk arrest if they leave the state.
Attorneys for international ship operator Fleet Management and local pilot John Cota of Petaluma, both of which are facing federal charges stemming from the spill, had asked for the crew members to be held as witnesses until a trial which was originally scheduled to begin Nov. 17.
But when the trial was postponed earlier this year until April, a judge agreed to allow the crew members to instead give their evidence by videotape.
Two of the lowest ranking crew members — Zong Bin Li and Liang Xian Zheng — have given videotaped evidence and are due in court today, where their attorneys will ask for their clients to be allowed to return home.
The six crewmembers are at the heart of federal charges faced by their employer, Fleet Management, which is accused by the Department of Justice of failing to adequately train the men, who had been working together on the ship for just two weeks at the time of the accident.
Fleet Management is also facing felony charges related to documents that were allegedly falsified by some of the crew members after the accident. Attorneys for the crew members say their clients were ordered to doctor the documents by senior Fleet officials.
Legal repercussions
A year after the spill, a number of legal issues yet to be resolved for the ship’s pilot, owner and crew members.
Pilot John Cota
Background: Cota, who was suspended after the accident and later retired, is facing $115,000 in fines and up to 18 months in jail if found guilty of misdemeanor environmental charges that allege he negligently caused the spill. Cota is also facing up to $500,000 in fines and a decade in prison if found guilty of felony charges that he lied to federal officials about medication use to obtain his pilot’s license.
Status: Cota’s next hearing is scheduled for March and his trial is due to begin in April.
Ship operator Fleet Management
Background: The Hong Kong- and European-based company, which manages nearly 200 ships worldwide, is facing millions of dollars in fines if found guilty of misdemeanor charges related to the spill and felony charges related to allegedly false statements made to investigators after the spill. The company is also being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for damage caused by the spill.
Status: The international company is scheduled to be tried alongside Cota. A hearing on the civil case is scheduled for today, but the case isn’t expected to be heard until the criminal trial is finished.
Crew members Mao Cai Sun, Kong Xian Hu, Shun Biao Zhao, Hong Zhi Wang, Liang Xian Zhen and Zon Bin Li
Background: The six men are not facing charges but they have been held in Northern California on material witness warrants since the spill, despite protests from attorneys who say their rights are being violated.
Status: The men have begun giving videotaped evidence for upcoming Cosco Busan-related trials and a judge today will rule whether two of them can return home immediately.
Panel discusses spill today
On the one-year anniversary of the Cosco Busan spill, a group of four officials and activists will discuss “What Is Being Done to Prevent Another Disaster From Polluting the Bay” at the Commonwealth Club at 11:30 a.m. today. Admission is $15. Panelists include Assemblymember Jared Huffman, Sejal Choksi of San Francisco Baykeeper, David Lewis of Save The Bay and Chris Godley of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services.
