Improving Oil Spill Response for the Bay
Oil Spill Planning
Since the Cosco Busan oil spill in 2007, Baykeeper has represented the environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) community in oil spill response planning. Baykeeper is the only nonprofit engaged with the US Coast Guard Area Committee, the Technical Advisory Committee for the state's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, the San Francisco Harbor Safety Committee and an advisory panel for the Farallon National Marine Sanctuary on oil spill technologies, as well as in numerous drills and exercises.
Providing our expertise as the pollution watchdog for the Bay, Baykeeper helped develop a comprehensive report with 190 specific recommendations for future oil spills. Download the full report here. Baykeeper Executive Director Deb Self received a Public Service Commendation from the Coast Guard, the agency's highest civilian honor.
Baykeeper issued its own report on oil spill reform needs and helped draft a suite of companion oil spill response bills that were passed by the state legislature in 2008. More recently, Baykeeper sponsored Assemblymember Jared Huffman's AB 1112 to increase OSPR funding to carry out its mandates. Read more about recent oil spill legislation.
Since then, we've advocated for the implementation of these recommendations in order to achieve major improvements in response measures to oil spills in San Francisco Bay.
The 2009 Dubai Star Fueling Spill Response
In December 2009, the Dubai Star oil tanker was being fueled south of the Bay Bridge when a series of human errors caused the tanks to overflow, releasing around 400 gallons of fuel into San Francisco Bay.
Around 60 birds were oiled, including snow plovers, Western grebes, Eared grebes, scaups and American coots. About six miles of East Bay shoreline were oiled, specifically Bay Farm Island and Alameda Island, including Robert Crowne Memorial Beach, the Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary, Arrowhead Marsh and the Alameda and Bay Farm eelgrass beds.
Baykeeper examined the response efforts to determine how effectively response measures have been improved since the Cosco Busan oil spill of 2007. Many aspects of the response were more efficient and effective than in 2007, and a new model for integrating local government decision-makers into the response was successful. However, there were delays in notification by the ship, causing a delay in response efforts. And while law requires the fueling vessel to boom the spill within 30 minutes, currents were too swift to make booming effective.
Since that spill, several drills and exercises have served as scenarios for closing gaps in preparation, notification, and coordination with local NGOs and volunteers. Baykeeper has also been working with the San Francisco Harbor Safety Committee to develop Best Management Practices for ship fueling operations. The practices, which will be published for use statewide, provide for better training and safety precautions and will go a long way toward preventing fueling spills.
The 2007 Cosco Busan Oil Spill Response
On November 7, 2007, the Cosco Busan container ship collided with the Bay Bridge, spilling nearly 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay. The widespread impact of that spill clearly demonstrated the importance of reforming policy and procedures at the federal, state and local level. Baykeeper has succeeded in changing the laws and policies that govern oil spill prevention and response so that primary responders and local communities are better prepared to deal with future oil spills in the Bay.
Baykeeper's Top Priorities for Local Oil Spill Policy Reform
In our work responding to the Cosco Busan oil spill and through our subsequent investigations, Baykeeper identified several key priorities for oil spill policy reform.
Prioritize the most critical ecological sites for immediate protection (2011 Status: Still a top priority).
The Area Contingency Plan identifies 232 sensitive ecological sites around the Bay. These sites should be evaluated based on strict ecological criteria to identify which are most critical to the healthy functioning of the San Francisco Bay and coastal ecosystems so that they can be prioritized for emergency response measures.
Prepare response plans at the local level (2011 Status: Accomplished).
Response agencies at the county and municipal level should develop Local Plans in conjunction with the San Francisco Area Contingency Plan (which governs regional emergency response for the Bay Area). Resources available through local agencies and mutual aid alliances – such as trained staff and cleanup materials – should be inventoried so that they are taken into account and utilized during an emergency response.
Local agencies also should participate in the design, execution and evaluation of emergency response drills for priority ecological sites within their jurisdictions. These drills should be designed to test challenging situations such as spring tides and low visibility.
Prevent a breakdown of communication from state to local agencies (2011 Status: Improved).
The State Office of Emergency Services should be tasked with notifying and updating the Regional Office of Emergency Services, which should in turn notify and coordinate the activities of local response agencies.
Make use of incoming information (2011 Status: In progress).
The Unified Command (the committee in charge of implementing the Area Contingency Plan in case of an emergency) must actively seek, evaluate and act upon information from the field. This is particularly important in low visibility situations when information from overhead flights is not available. Radio channels used by fishing boats should be monitored by Vessel Traffic Service (an operation of the US Coast Guard, meant to coordinate the safe transit of vessels in San Francisco Bay) and reported through the Coast Guard to the Unified Command. A hotline for public reports of oil and oiled wildlife should be operational immediately but no later than 90 minutes after a spill occurs.
