Gina-Marie CheesemanOil Spills in Two Continents
November 21st 2007 03:07
Americans and Russians will be cleaning up oil, the black sticky substance that shines in water and contaminates wildlife, for years to come. Oil spills occurred in the San Francisco Bay and the Black Sea within four days of each other. On November 7, 2007 58,000 gallons of oil spilled into the San Francisco Bay after an 810 foot long ship hit the Bay Bridge during heavy fog. The pilot of the ship, Capt. John Cota said he immediately notified the Coast Guard of the spill, but clean-up crews did not respond for at least an hour and a half.
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen announced on November 14 that the Coast Guard began reviewing its response to the oil spill. The review will examine the effectiveness of the San Francisco Bay-area response plan, the interagency area contingency plan (ISPR), and how the plan works with federal and state plans.
“While we would not normally initiate an ISPR review during the course of an ongoing cleanup operation, I have determined that due to the severity of this incident and the potential benefits in identifying areas to improve response coordination and communication in the future, it is imperative that we get this review underway as quickly as possible,” Allen said in a statement.
“The ISPR is not intended to duplicate other ongoing investigations,” said Coast Guard Chief of Staff Vice Adm. Robert Papp.
The ISPR review members will include representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, the City of San Francisco, the Pacific States-British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, and the California Office of Emergency Services.
Other investigations are occurring including one by the National Transportation Safety Board, and another by the Coast Guard is investigating potential civil and criminal violations regarding the oil spill.
SF Shoreline Clean-up
The clean-up phases of the San Francisco Bay oil spill are categorized into three phases, according to a Coast Guard statement. The Unified Command of the Coast Guard established clean-up stands for the Bay Area.
The first phase of clean-up is the ‘gross removal phase.’ The Coast Guard’s November 16 statement said that “gross oil can be seen with the naked eye,” and in the gross oil removal phase “all substantial amounts of oil…are removed from the beach.”
The treatment phase involves removing oil in the Bay to an “acceptable level.” The Coast Guard’s recommended standard at public beaches is that no oil must be visible.
In the last phase, the maintenance phase, an interagency team inspects areas and confirms it meets standards.
As of November 19 approximately 19,456 gallons of oil were recovered, according to the Coast Guard.
On November 14 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suspended all fishing, commercial and recreational, in the areas impacted by the oil spill via an executive order. Five days earlier Schwarzenegger proclaimed a state of emergency as he visited the site of the oil spill.
“I have signed an emergency proclamation, so all the state’s resources can be coordinated to address this oil spill. I have also directed my Office of Spill Prevention and Response to work with the ship owner and federal and local authorities to bring in whatever resources are needed to clean this up immediately…have told OSPR to use the state’s Response Trust Fund to throw everything we possibly can at this without wasting a minute of time,” Schwarzenegger said.
Russian tanker spills oil into the Black Sea
The strongest storms to hit the Black Sea in 30 years caused a Russian oil tanker to break in two in the Kerch Strait, spilling about 560,000 gallons of oil (around ten times the size of the San Francisco spill) which contaminated Russian and Ukrainian areas of the Black Sea.
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said, “What has happened in the Kerch Strait has already been called the most massive shipwreck in modern Russian history. The consequences for the environment are the most depressing and what is important - people have died and five people are still missing.”
Zubkov opened an inquiry into the accident. He cast blame on the ship’s captain by saying, “You can’t blame everything on the weather.”
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen announced on November 14 that the Coast Guard began reviewing its response to the oil spill. The review will examine the effectiveness of the San Francisco Bay-area response plan, the interagency area contingency plan (ISPR), and how the plan works with federal and state plans.
“While we would not normally initiate an ISPR review during the course of an ongoing cleanup operation, I have determined that due to the severity of this incident and the potential benefits in identifying areas to improve response coordination and communication in the future, it is imperative that we get this review underway as quickly as possible,” Allen said in a statement.
“The ISPR is not intended to duplicate other ongoing investigations,” said Coast Guard Chief of Staff Vice Adm. Robert Papp.
The ISPR review members will include representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, the City of San Francisco, the Pacific States-British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, and the California Office of Emergency Services.
Other investigations are occurring including one by the National Transportation Safety Board, and another by the Coast Guard is investigating potential civil and criminal violations regarding the oil spill.
SF Shoreline Clean-up
The clean-up phases of the San Francisco Bay oil spill are categorized into three phases, according to a Coast Guard statement. The Unified Command of the Coast Guard established clean-up stands for the Bay Area.
The first phase of clean-up is the ‘gross removal phase.’ The Coast Guard’s November 16 statement said that “gross oil can be seen with the naked eye,” and in the gross oil removal phase “all substantial amounts of oil…are removed from the beach.”
The treatment phase involves removing oil in the Bay to an “acceptable level.” The Coast Guard’s recommended standard at public beaches is that no oil must be visible.
In the last phase, the maintenance phase, an interagency team inspects areas and confirms it meets standards.
As of November 19 approximately 19,456 gallons of oil were recovered, according to the Coast Guard.
On November 14 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suspended all fishing, commercial and recreational, in the areas impacted by the oil spill via an executive order. Five days earlier Schwarzenegger proclaimed a state of emergency as he visited the site of the oil spill.
“I have signed an emergency proclamation, so all the state’s resources can be coordinated to address this oil spill. I have also directed my Office of Spill Prevention and Response to work with the ship owner and federal and local authorities to bring in whatever resources are needed to clean this up immediately…have told OSPR to use the state’s Response Trust Fund to throw everything we possibly can at this without wasting a minute of time,” Schwarzenegger said.
Russian tanker spills oil into the Black Sea
The strongest storms to hit the Black Sea in 30 years caused a Russian oil tanker to break in two in the Kerch Strait, spilling about 560,000 gallons of oil (around ten times the size of the San Francisco spill) which contaminated Russian and Ukrainian areas of the Black Sea.
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said, “What has happened in the Kerch Strait has already been called the most massive shipwreck in modern Russian history. The consequences for the environment are the most depressing and what is important - people have died and five people are still missing.”
Zubkov opened an inquiry into the accident. He cast blame on the ship’s captain by saying, “You can’t blame everything on the weather.”
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