Press Release: September 19, 2011
San Francisco, CA – Today federal, state and local government agencies announced their financial settlement with those responsible for the Cosco Busan oil spill which dumped 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay on November 7, 2007. The settlement agreement requires the owners of the ship to...
Press Release: September 8, 2011
Sacramento, CA – Finally, the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response – part of the Department of Fish and Game – is set to get an increase in funding from oil companies doing business in the state. AB 1112 now awaits Governor Brown's signature if it is to become law.
California oil...
Blog Post: September 2, 2011
California lawmakers are expected to vote soon on a bill sponsored by San Francisco Baykeeper to fund oil spill prevention and response. Read recent news coverage here. We'll keep you updated on the results of the vote.
Read the San Jose Mercury News' recently published editorial, "Senators need to...
Blog Post: May 23, 2011
Update: The Coast Guard has identified a risk of more fuel escaping from the barge. They plan to pump the fuel off of the barge today.
An abandoned barge stranded in Alviso Slough since at least 2007 has begun leaking fuel or lube oil near the sensitive marsh lands of the Don Edwards San Francisco...
Blog Post: March 23, 2011
Baykeeper has received word that there has been a small oil spill near the Richmond Long Wharf, the main pier for the Chevron Refinery. Chevron estimates the spill is approximately half a barrel (21 gallons) and is fully contained. The Marine Spill Response Corporation is now responding to the...
Blog Post: February 3, 2011
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...
Blog Post: January 6, 2011
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that 120 Bay Area commercial fishermen will receive $3.6 million in a settlement with the companies that owned and operated the Cosco Busan container ship that spilled 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay. The 2007 spill harmed many local fish populations...
Column: June 10, 2010
Though the Gulf of Mexico is almost two thousand of miles away from San Francisco Bay, the implications of the ongoing BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster reverberate across the country. Sadly, it strikes a special chord here in the Bay Area, where we witnessed the effects of a major oil...
Blog Post: February 1, 2009
Found throughout North America, eelgrass is an important plant in estuaries like the San Francisco Bay because its structure creates multi-layered habitat for many organisms. Oil spills like the one that spread across Bay waters last week can devastate eelgrass beds and the marine life that...
Column: November 2, 2008
On November 7, 2007, the Cosco Busan container ship collided with the Bay Bridge, spilling more than 50,000 gallons from the ship’s enormous fuel tanks and causing San Francisco Bay’s largest vessel-related oil spill in over a decade. The failure by response agencies to accurately evaluate...