Oil Spill Drill in Oakland Harbor

Feb 3, 2011
Baykeeper blog image

Executive Director and Baykeeper Deb Self is participating in an oil spill preparedness training in the Oakland Middle Harbor today.

She reports:

I'm out at the Oakland Middle Harbor where oil spill responders are testing a new strategy to protect this important bird habitat in the event of an oil spill in the Bay. The mudflats are teeming with shorebirds – so far today, I've seen Long-billed Curlew, Dowitchers, Sandpipers, Willets and Avocets. Since the area is fairly shallow, I was surprised to find so many diving ducks, including Buffleheads, Ruddy Ducks and Scaup, along with plenty of Eared Grebes and Coots.

Out at the wide entrance to the harbor, they are stretching out hundreds of feet of boom to see how it's impacted by currents, in order to decide where it should be anchored if there's an oil spill. We'll see a very high tide, about 6.8 feet, around noon, giving the workers a nice slack tide with smooth waters and slow currents.

Related Content

New Chevron Oil Spill Report Doesn’t Pass the Smell Test
In early 2021, Richmond residents called Baykeeper’s pollution hotline to report a strange sheen on the Bay and a noxious smell in the air. Turns out, they had discovered an oil spill at Chevron’s...
A Recurring Nightmare
The news this past month has felt like a nightmare I've had before. Toxic oil devastated our beautiful Southern California shorelines, and the headlines were ghosts of the past. There were critical...
The Last Oil Spill?
Yet another oil spill is blackening our state's beautiful coastline—this time in Southern California—a reminder of the destructiveness and toxicity of fossil fuels. News images of marred shorelines,...
Join us to hold polluters accountable and defend the Bay DONATE NOW >