Protect Our Beautiful Bay from Oil Spills

By Sejal Choksi

San Francisco Chronicle
June 18, 2008

A number of things went wrong after the Cosco Busan cargo ship ran into the Bay Bridge last November spilling more than 50,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the San Francisco Bay. Within a couple of hours of the incident, it was plain to those of us on the bay that something was amiss with the initial 140-gallon spill estimate and the contradictory reports that followed. Many local agencies responsible for protecting their shorelines were caught off guard as oil washed onto East Bay shorelines and sensitive coves along the Marin Headlands.

In the months following the spill, the Coast Guard commissioned a third-party review by a team of scientists, local agency personnel and environmental groups to assess and critique the federal and state response. The resulting report contained more than 100 recommendations for systemic changes in oil spill procedures and policies, including the need to better coordinate and train volunteers and provide local communities with the authority and information needed to keep oil out of sensitive areas like Richardson Bay.

A package of oil spill bills is currently making its way through the state Legislature in response to some of the key gaps identified by the report. In a surprise move last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signaled substantive support for improving oil spill response by endorsing three oil spill bills that have not yet reached his desk. The governor's proactive support for expanding the state's oiled wildlife response program, improving emergency response at refineries, and establishing a new program to clean up inland oil spills is a good first step toward protecting California waters and wildlife from oil spill pollution.

However, these three bills alone do not address the current flaws in California's oil spill response program. We urge the governor to go further in reforming California's oil spill response procedures by supporting the full package of oil spill bills in the legislature. Other critical bills in the package empower local communities to respond (Hancock, D-Berkeley), provide reliable long-term funding for the state's oil spill program (Hancock), ensure better protection of sensitive sites along 400 miles of Bay and coastal shoreline (Huffman, D- San Rafael), require tug escorts for hazardous cargo (Lieber, D-Mountain View), and speed up spill response times and establish a grant program to improve spill containment technology (Leno, D-San Francisco).

In order to prevent oil from contaminating California's waters again in the future, it is imperative that the governor support the complete legislative package aimed at improving oil spill response.

A package of oil spill legislation

AB 2031 (Hancock): Requires prompt notification of local emergency responders when a spill occurs and ensures that if an oil spill happens in the future, local volunteers will be trained to respond and adequately equipped with booms and cleanup gear. (Sponsored by San Francisco Baykeeper)

AB 2032 (Hancock): increases the cap on the OSPAF barrel fee from 5 to 8 cents, which is necessary to provide a reliable long-term funding source for the state's oil spill program and fund the program improvements the other bills make.

AB 2935 (Huffman): Mandates that the Office of Emergency Services coordinate local and regional agency action to create the greatest degree of readiness for future oil spills. The bill ensures better protection of sensitive areas like Brooks Island, Richardson Bay and the Marin coastline.

AB 2911 (Wolk): Expands the operations capacity of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network ("OWCN") and provides funding to train more rescue teams to collect and treat oiled wildlife in the event of a spill.

AB 2912 (Wolk): Although inland oil spills generally get less media coverage than marine oil spills, the reality is that inland spills account for the vast majority of oil spills in California. AB 2912 ensures that California oil spill policy is comprehensive in its coverage, and doesn't singularly address highly publicized ocean oil spills. (This bill did not make it out of appropriations, but the Governor's recent action revived it).

AB 2547 (Leno): Prompts a badly-needed update of the technology in use for oil spill prevention, response, containment, cleanup, and wildlife rehabilitation. The bill provides five million dollars annually for research grants to develop oil spill technologies and ensures continued government involvement by mandating a periodic evaluation of emerging technologies every five years.

AB 2441 (Lieber): Requires tugboat escorts for vessels carrying hazardous materials within California's harbors.

SB 1056 (Migden): Improves notification to local authorities and requires a faster oil spill response time.

SB 965 (Lowenthal): Funds technology to provide real time information on currents in the Bay.

SB 578 (Simitian): Improves emergency planning for refineries.

Sejal Choksi is the Baykeeper and Program Director for San Francisco Baykeeper, pollution watchdog for the Bay since 1989. Choksi was appointed to the California Oil Spill Prevention and Response technical advisory committee in 2005. San Francisco Baykeeper is an oil spill bill sponsor and participated in the Coast Guard third-party review of the Cosco Busan incident through the California Coastkeeper Alliance.