Oil Spill Policy Reform

On November 7, 2007, the Cosco Busan container ship collided with the Bay Bridge, spilling nearly 53,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil into San Francisco Bay.  The widespread impact of a medium-size spill has made clear the importance of reforming both policy and procedures at the federal, state and local level. Baykeeper is now working to emphasize the importance of better spill prevention and navigational safeguards, as well as ensuring that all of our communities are prepared to deal with an even larger spill in the future.

State Oil Spill Reform Legislation
The California State Legislature is now considering a package of legislative measures to reduce the threat of future oil spills and ensure that California will be ready if another spill does occur. Baykeeper is an active supporter of this legislation, and we need your help to ensure their passage.

Read Details of the Oil Spill Bills

Tell Your State Legislators That You Support the Oil Spill Bills

Baykeeper's Top Priorities for Oil Spill Policy Reform
In our work responding to the Cosco Busan oil spill and through our subsequent investigations, Baykeeper has identified several key priorities for oil spill policy reform, including the following:

Prioritize the most critical ecological sites for immediate protection. 
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.  These areas should be further evaluated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Trajectory Analysis Planner (a program that projects how an oil spill will move and spread) to establish the likely risk of contamination in the event of future spills.

Prepare response plans at the local level.
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.
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.
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 (a marine traffic monitoring service operated by ports and harbors) 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.