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John Upton journalist 415 738 0721 john@john-upton.com San Francisco Interviews Cosco Busan oil spill→ Power plant debate Radioactive air pollution Gas pipeline safety |
Cosco Busan oil spill John Upton reporting for the San Francisco Examiner In November 2007, Bay Area beaches were closed, wildlife was killed and fishing was halted after a container ship leaked more than 50,000 gallons of fuel through a gash that was left in its hull after it struck a Bay Bridge support tower. An international shipping company and the local pilot face federal charges and lawsuits, and the Chinese crew members have handed their passports to U.S. authorities.
Bay remains vulnerable one year after Cosco Busan spill original / top Nov. 7, 2008 One year after a container ship clipped a Bay Bridge support tower, flooding the Bay with oil, environmental and clean-water advocates say some of the problems that hampered emergency cleanup efforts remain unfixed. In the wake of the Cosco Busan spill on Nov. 7, 2007, state and federal lawmakers clamored to draft legislation to address the delayed and inadequate response by government and private industry that exacerbated the damage caused by the more than 50,000 gallons of oil that gushed from the ship's hull. The Cosco Busan struck the Bay Bridge support tower while trying to navigate through heavy morning fog; by sundown, the tides had spread the oil slick throughout the Bay. Some cleanup workers and equipment, however, were not put to work until days after the incident. Additionally, thousands of would-be volunteers were ordered not to help scour oil from their local beaches, and federal and state agencies failed to efficiently share information about the spill with each other or with San Francisco and other local agencies, subsequent investigation reports revealed. Adding to the Bay's woes, floating barriers deployed to corral the oil quickly tipped over in the Bay's strong tides, an official with the Marine Spill Response Corp. told a Harbor Safety Committee, a multiagency committee of local, state and federal agencies. While one-third of the spilled oil was recovered, most of the fuel sank to the bottom of the Bay, became buried beneath shoreline sand, washed out to sea or evaporated, according to U.S. Coast Guard figures. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has since signed seven bills into law to help protect waterways from future spills. The bills improve government coordination and oversight and improve volunteer training. However, the governor vetoed three of the bills that environmental advocates described as among the most critical to helping protect the Bay. One vetoed bill would have allowed the state to raise oil taxes from 5 cents to 8 cents per barrel to increase funding for the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response, which has millions in cash reserves but is running a $3 million annual deficit. The additional taxes could have helped improve decades-old oil-spill cleanup and control technology and equipment by funding grants under a bill authored by San Francisco Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco. That bill was also vetoed. In his veto statement, Schwarzenegger said the spill prevention and response office already monitors and evaluates new response technologies. Leno told The Examiner that the veto means California will "continue to rely upon antiquated technologies" to manage spills. "The booms that are currently being used were deemed to be successful in recovering only a fraction of the oil that was spilled," Leno said. "I think we can all agree that was unacceptable." The third vetoed bill, written by San Francisco state Sen. Carole Migden, would have required cleanup firms contracted by shipping companies to be able to respond to spills within two hours. To meet this requirement, the firms would have been required to increase their staff and equipment inventories throughout the state. It took first responders about 2½ hours to reach the Cosco Busan spill Nov. 7, but cleanup efforts were thwarted by heavy fog that prevented helicopter flyovers that were needed to locate the spreading slick. The governor said he vetoed the bill because its mandates could jeopardize the safety of spill responders in some "potentially unsafe circumstances." Sejal Choksi with the nonprofit San Francisco Baykeeper said the two-hour rule would have helped protect the environment if it had become law. "Containment within two hours is critical, because you don't want the oil to spread throughout the Bay," Choksi said. "It's a lot harder to recover and a lot harder to clean up once it spreads on the tides." Oil spill legislation Signed by governor: AB1960: Tightens regulations designed to prevent spills at oil refineries and pipelines. AB2031: Requires prompt notification of local agencies following an oil spill. AB2911: Improves training programs that teach volunteers to rescue oiled wildlife. AB2935: Prioritizes oil spill response efforts in ecologically sensitive habitats. SB1217: Increases state oversight and medical reporting requirements for Californian bar pilots. SB1627: Increases state oversight of the Board of Pilot Commissioners. SB1739: Increases training drill requirements for oil spill response companies. Vetoed: AB2032: Increase funding for Oil Spill Prevention and Administration Fund through oil taxes. AB2547: Establish grants program to improve oil-spill cleanup equipment and procedures. SB1056: Require cleanup crews to be able to respond to oil spills within two hours. Source: Legislative Counsel of California Herring eggs malformed by Cosco Busan spill Preliminary results from a multiyear effort to assess the environmental harm caused by the Cosco Busan oil spill have confirmed some fears held by fishermen and ecologists for the local herring population. The baitfish swarms into the Bay every winter to spawn, laying eggs on rocks, eelgrass and other surfaces. Herring are a key source of food for shorebirds and marine mammals, and commercial fishermen catch them in nets before they can lay their eggs, which are a delicacy to Japan. Herring eggs in areas directly impacted by the Cosco Busan spill last year were so badly malformed that they would not be able to survive, according to an October report by the state and federal agencies preparing the damage assessment. However, herring eggs collected outside of the affected area were "largely normal," and scientists did not detect any effect of the spill on the number of herring hatched last winter in the Bay, according to the report. Herring fisherman Ernie Koepf, who serves as a fishing advisor to the California Department of Fish & Game, said it's "well known" that petroleum distillates have a devastating impact on herring embryos. The herring fishery at Prince William Sound was destroyed following the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, but Koepf and others said it will take years before the effects on the Bay's herring from the much-smaller Cosco Busan spill become clear. "We're watching with great interest," Koepf said. A full report into the environmental impacts of the Cosco Busan spill might be finished within a year, according to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service spokesman Al Donner. The report will be used to determine the compensation the government demands from companies linked to the Cosco Busan, with proceeds directed toward restoration projects. Environmental toll of the Cosco Busan spill 2,525: Birds killed by the spill and recovered by authorities 418: Oiled birds rescued and rehabilitated 52: Miles of sandy beach coastline oiled by the spill 10: Miles of saltmarsh coastline oiled by the spill 1 to 5: Years before the coastlines recover from the spill 54,000: Gallons of fuel spilled 20,000: Gallons of oil recovered from water* *Doesn't include oil recovered from shorelines Sources: Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Planning for the Cosco Busan Oil Spill, October update; U.S. Coast Guard. After a year in California, Chinese crew hope to return home Some of the crew aboard the Cosco Busan when it crashed one year ago are scheduled to appear before a judge today to ask, once again, to finally be allowed to return home to China. None of the six crewmembers who have been held in northern California since the shipping accident has been charged with any crimes. They are being held on witness warrants and have posted bonds to avoid incarceration, surrendered their passports and they risk arrest if they leave the state. Attorneys for international ship operator Fleet Management and local pilot John Cota of Petaluma, both of which are facing federal charges stemming from the spill, had asked for the crew members to be held as witnesses until a trial which was originally scheduled to begin Nov. 17. But when the trial was postponed earlier this year until April, a judge agreed to allow the crew members to instead give their evidence by videotape. Two of the lowest ranking crew members - Zong Bin Li and Liang Xian Zheng - have given videotaped evidence and are due in court today, where their attorneys will ask for their clients to be allowed to return home. The six crewmembers are at the heart of federal charges faced by their employer, Fleet Management, which is accused by the Department of Justice of failing to adequately train the men, who had been working together on the ship for just two weeks at the time of the accident. Fleet Management is also facing felony charges related to documents that were allegedly falsified by some of the crew members after the accident. Attorneys for the crew members say their clients were ordered to doctor the documents by senior Fleet officials. Legal repercussions A year after the spill, a number of legal issues yet to be resolved for the ship's pilot, owner and crew members. Pilot John Cota Background: Cota, who was suspended after the accident and later retired, is facing $115,000 in fines and up to 18 months in jail if found guilty of misdemeanor environmental charges that allege he negligently caused the spill. Cota is also facing up to $500,000 in fines and a decade in prison if found guilty of felony charges that he lied to federal officials about medication use to obtain his pilot's license. Status: Cota's next hearing is scheduled for March and his trial is due to begin in April. Ship operator Fleet Management Background: The Hong Kong- and European-based company, which manages nearly 200 ships worldwide, is facing millions of dollars in fines if found guilty of misdemeanor charges related to the spill and felony charges related to allegedly false statements made to investigators after the spill. The company is also being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for damage caused by the spill. Status: The international company is scheduled to be tried alongside Cota. A hearing on the civil case is scheduled for today, but the case isn't expected to be heard until the criminal trial is finished. Crew members Mao Cai Sun, Kong Xian Hu, Shun Biao Zhao, Hong Zhi Wang, Liang Xian Zhen and Zon Bin Li Background: The six men are not facing charges but they have been held in Northern California on material witness warrants since the spill, despite protests from attorneys who say their rights are being violated. Status: The men have begun giving videotaped evidence for upcoming Cosco Busan-related trials and a judge today will rule whether two of them can return home immediately. Panel discusses spill today On the one-year anniversary of the Cosco Busan spill, a group of four officials and activists will discuss "What Is Being Done to Prevent Another Disaster From Polluting the Bay" at the Commonwealth Club at 11:30 a.m. today. Admission is $15. Panelists include Assemblymember Jared Huffman, Sejal Choksi of San Francisco Baykeeper, David Lewis of Save The Bay and Chris Godley of the Marin County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services. Chinese Cosco Busan crew to remain in U.S. original / top Sept. 25, 2008 Chinese crew members aboard the Cosco Busan container ship when it hit the Bay Bridge in November will continue to be held in the United States as witnesses, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. The six men, none of whom have been charged with any crimes, are at the center of a legal battle about the crash, which caused an oil spill that killed wildlife and fouled beaches. Wednesday's court proceedings were to hear a "motion for release" brought by some of the crew members' attorneys, who also asked "in the alternative, to compel scheduling" of depositions in the case. The U.S. Department of Justice has charged the crew members' employer, ship operator Fleet Management Ltd., with misdemeanor and felony charges in the accident. The crew was inadequately trained and they made errors that caused the Nov. 7 crash, the department has alleged. The department is also suing the Hong Kong-based shipping company in the spill. The crew members are being held in Northern California on material-witness warrants. They have surrendered their passports, paid bonds and live in a hotel. International arrest warrants could be issued if they leave the country. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero ruled Wednesday that the depositions of two low-ranking crew members must begin in October. He said depositions of four other senior seamen must begin by Nov. 17 - 376 days after the crash. The depositions will be used as evidence during a trial of Fleet Management and Petaluma pilot Capt. John Cota, which is scheduled to begin after Nov. 17. Attorneys for the United States and Fleet Management unsuccessfully asked for later deposition dates to give them more time to prepare and conduct research. Attorneys for the crew members said their clients' constitutional rights are being violated because they are being detained without charge. Spero said the men are "certainly stuck" in the United States, but he said they aren't "detained" since they aren't incarcerated. Cosco Busan pilot wants crew members kept in U.S. original / top Sept. 12, 2008 The local pilot who was at the helm of the Cosco Busan container ship when it struck the Bay Bridge in November asked the government Friday to keep six of the ship's Chinese crew members in the country for his trial. Capt. John Cota, of Petaluma, is facing jail time if convicted on criminal charges that he negligently caused the crash that led to the spill of more than 50,000 gallons of oil into the Bay on Nov. 7. His trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 17. Onboard the Cosco Busan that day there were also six Chinese crew members. They made a series of blunders that contributed to the container ship's crash, the U.S. Department of Justice has alleged in charges brought against the workers' employer, Fleet Management. Attorneys for the crew members have acknowledged that they forged documents to mislead investigators. "The government has decided to bring criminal charges against only one individual, Captain Cota, and has given or intends to give all six crew members immunity," Cota's attorney, Jeffrey Bornstein, wrote in a court filing. "While we believe that the court needs to balance the rights of these witnesses to return home, the fact remains that there is no substitute for having them appear in person for trial before the jury." An attorney for the ship's master, Capt. Mao Cai Sun, has argued that his client should be allowed to return home from Northern California, where he has been detained since the accident with the rest of the crew. The crew members are living in a hotel. "The incredibly long detention of a foreign national who has not been accused of any crime is unheard of and violates his constitutional rights," attorney Douglas Schwartz wrote in a court filing earlier this month. "If it were American citizens being held in China under similar circumstances, it is difficult to believe our country would sit idle and mute." The crew is scheduled to provide evidence in the form of depositions next month, but Cota's attorney on Friday asked a judge to continue detaining the crew so they can provide evidence in front of a jury. Prosecutors in court filings asked for four of the crew members to be detained until the trial. U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero will decide whether to allow the crew to return home before the trial. One crew member, Zong Bin Li, was given permission in late August to return to China to visit his ailing grandmother, court documents show. His attorney, Jonathan Howden, said in a court filing that Li obtained a work permit and Social Security card and plans to return to his job in the United States "indefinitely" when he returns to San Francisco. The latest legal wrangling is not the only legal action associated with the Cosco Busan incident. In addition to criminal charges brought against Fleet Management, the international shipping company is being sued, along with ship owner Regal Stone, by the Justice Department for cleanup costs and other damages caused by the accident. The two companies recently argued in court documents that the state of California is liable for damages because one of its doctors wrongly gave Cota the clean bill of health needed to renew his license. The companies have also argued that the United States is liable for damages for because the U.S. Coast Guard issued the license to Cota, who allegedly relies on a cocktail of pharmaceuticals to treat a long list of ailments, including sleep apnea. Shipping company wants to plead no contest for oil spill original / top Sept. 5, 2008 The shipping company that operated the Cosco Busan when the container ship slammed into the Bay Bridge told a judge it doesn't want to contest federal criminal charges that it negligently caused an oil spill and then misled investigators. Fleet Management is facing more than $3 million in fines if convicted on the federal misdemeanor and felony charges and it is also being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice about the Nov. 7 oil spill in the Bay. "The purpose of the plea is to fairly resolve the criminal case," Fleet Management attorney Marc Greenberg wrote in court documents filed this week. "Disallowing it will unquestionably impact Fleet's ability to receive a fair judgment in the civil matters now pending." Attorneys representing members of the Chinese crew have acknowledged in court statements that their clients falsified documents, including a passage plan to guide the 900-foot ship from Oakland to South Korea, after the collision. The attorneys in court documents said the crew members were following orders from more senior Fleet Management officials. Greenberg in his filings laid much of the blame for the crash on other parties, including Petaluma pilot Capt. John Cota, a co-defendant in the criminal case scheduled to begin Nov. 17. Cota's attorney, Jeffrey Bornstein, said the filing showed that Fleet Management's attorneys "don't have a defense in the criminal case and so they want to try and dispose of it, but to do it in a way that does not involve pleading guilty." Bornstein has previously asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to order separate trials for Cota and Fleet Management because the company intends to base its defense on "character assassination" of his client. Illston is charged with deciding whether to allow the plea. Cosco Busan crew lied to investigators original / top Sept. 4, 2008 New details of misleading statements made by Cosco Busan crewmembers to investigators in the wake of the container ship's November crash into the Bay Bridge and subsequent oil spill were made public Wednesday. One senior crewmember forged documents given to officials investigating the spill; another senior officer was chomping down breakfast when the ship crashed into the bridge but initially hid that fact from investigators, the filings show. The U.S. Department of Justice in July charged shipping company Fleet Management with making misleading statements to investigators. The company faces over $3 million in fines if convicted. One officer, Shun Biao Zhao, failed to draft a passage plan for the ship's journey from the Port of Oakland to South Korea before the accident and then wrote the plan one day after the crash at the instruction of other company officials, according to the filing by attorney Jonathan Howden, who is representing Zhao and three other crewmembers. "Other documents also may have been dated or created after the fact," Howden wrote. The crewmember based the forged passage plan on another Fleet Management-managed vessel's passage plan but failed to erase references to Brisbane, Australia. After a U.S. Coast Guard official asked why the plan mentioned Australia, Zhao erased the references and forged other crewmembers signatures, according to the filing. The Hong Kong-based shipping company and Petaluma pilot Capt. John Cota are also facing federal misdemeanor environmental charges related to the Nov. 7 accident, which caused an oil spill that killed wildlife, closed beaches, delayed the fishing season and poisoned the Bay. The company failed to properly train the six-person crew, it is alleged. Recordings reveal that, on the morning of the accident, Cota and the crew struggled to use the ship's navigation equipment. Fleet Management attorney Marc Greenberg in court has claimed that was caused by Cota's history of prescription "drug use and abuse." The crewmembers are scheduled to be interviewed in October for a trial scheduled to begin in November. They have already been interviewed multiple times by investigators. Howden's documents were filed as part of an effort to convince the court to allow the men to return home to China. "They feel just like anybody would feel if they were detained in a foreign country for ten months," Howden told the Examiner. Ship operators: Pilot's drug use caused spill original / top Aug. 15, 2008 The company that operated the container ship that spilled more than 50,000 gallons of oil into the Bay in November will argue in court that the local pilot's use of prescription drugs is to blame, an attorney for the shipping company said today. The environmental disaster began on the morning of Nov. 7 when the Cosco Busan struck a Bay Bridge support tower while moving through heavy fog. Recordings made by on-board equipment reveal that Petaluma pilot Capt. John Cota and the Chinese crew of the 900-foot container ship struggled to use navigation devices. Marine mammals and thousands of birds were killed by the spilled oil, which still sullies area shorelines. Cota is facing misdemeanor charges related to alleged environmental crimes for his alleged role in the accident. If convicted, Cota could be imprisoned for up to 18 months and fined up to $115,000. The U.S. Department of Justice has also charged Cota with two felony charges for allegedly lying to U.S. Coast Guard officials about his medical history when he secured his pilot's license. If convicted, he could be imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined up to $500,000. In addition to misdemeanor charges related to environmental crimes, Hong Kong-based shipping company Fleet Management faces six felony charges related to alleged false statements made by company officials to investigators after the accident. If convicted, the company could be fined more than $3 million. Fleet Management attorney Marc Greenberg told U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in court today that he will raise Cota's history of drug use during the upcoming combined trial, tentatively scheduled for Nov. 17. Federal investigations revealed that Cota relies on a cocktail of prescription drugs to treat an array of medical problems, including sleep apnea, and that he was convicted for driving under the influence of alcohol in 1999. "It is a part of our defense that he lost situational awareness because of his drug use and abuse," Greenberg said. "That's why he looked at the radar and didn't see what he should have seen." Cota's attorney, Jeffrey Bornstein, told Illston his client's trial should be severed from Fleet Management's trial because attorneys for the company would rely on "character assassination" of Cota in their defense. Illston previously denied a similar request, but Bornstein said his renewed call was based on new court filings. Bornstein also said Cota's trial should be held outside of the Bay Area because of intense local media coverage of the incident and subsequent investigations. "He's already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion," Bornstein said. Cota was in the courtroom today, but he did not speak or appear before Illston. The next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 22. Shipowners charged with lying original / top July 24, 2008 The operators of the Cosco Busan, the container ship that struck a Bay Bridge support beam last year, have been indicted for allegedly failing to properly train the ship's crew and falsifying documents to deceive the spill's investigators. The 900-foot container ship's fuel tanks tore open when it struck the Bay Bridge on Nov. 7. Area shorelines remain contaminated from the spill of more than 50,000 gallons of toxic bunker fuel, which killed thousands of birds. Following a grand jury investigation, U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello charged Hong Kong-based Fleet Management Inc. with six felony counts Tuesday related to allegations that company officials made "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to investigators. Fleet Management could be fined more than the value of the damage it caused, according to a U.S. Justice Department statement. Court dates have not been set. In the indictment, Fleet Management was accused of creating a "passage plan" to guide the ship all of the way from the Port of Oakland to the Port of Pusan in South Korea after the Nov. 7 incident, and for creating similar plans for previous journeys. The officials, who were not named, are alleged to have told investigators the plans were drafted prior to the ship's journeys. The passage plan was signed by some of the Chinese crew being held in the United States as material witnesses. Fleet Management, which operates nearly 200 ships worldwide, has suspended "individuals involved in the misunderstanding of the facts" and plans to investigate the allegations, spokesman Jim Lawrence said. Fleet Management also was charged with two environmental misdemeanors carrying fines of up to $115,000 for failing to adequately train the crew, and because the crew didn't use navigation equipment properly or review the ship's course before setting sail. The agency is already suing the company over the disaster. The 13-year-old company hired the crew when it took over operations of the ship - now called the Hanjin Venezia - Oct. 24, two weeks before the crash, Fleet Management general manager Nagarajan Subramania testified at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing. Subramania testified that the crew members had "long years of experience at sea" and came to the company "pretty much trained." Some of them had previously worked together and the crew was "working together well" before the crash, he said. Petaluma pilot John Cota has been charged with misdemeanors related to the spill and with felonies related to medical documents. Cosco Busan's impact still not entirely clear original / top July 17, 2008 Nine months after an oil slick spread across the Bay from the Cosco Busan, the ship's tarnished name has been scrubbed off its hull, but exhaustive cleanup efforts have failed to remove all of the spilled toxic fuel from area shorelines. Evidence of the oily mess surfaced as recently as last month, with tar balls showing up on beaches north of Marin and in Alameda. The November spill, the worst the Bay has seen in decades, occurred when the 900-foot container ship, which has since been renamed the Venezia, struck the Bay Bridge in heavy morning fog, ripping open two of its tanks and releasing more than 53,000 gallons of fuel. The cleanup effort is ongoing and isn't expected to be completed until September, said Rob Roberts, the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response officer who has led state cleanup efforts. However, that doesn't mean the fuel or its effects will be gone, he said. In mid-June, roughly 80 gallons of sunken fuel washed up and closed Robert Crowne Memorial State Beach in Alameda County, said Carol Singleton, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Emergency Services. Days earlier, residue oil surfaced on Marin's Rodeo Beach, the National Park Service said. After the Cosco Busan spill, about 2,500 oiled birds from more than 50 species were collected; of the 1,084 birds found alive, just 421 survived, according to California Department of Fish and Game figures. The effects of the spill on most vulnerable bird species, including brown pelicans, won't be known until the fall, Golden Gate Audubon Society conservation director Eli Saddler said. "A lot of the birds impacted were migratory waterfowl, and those birds are in Alaska and Canada or in northern parts of the U.S. right now," he said. Fishermen are facing the threat that the oil has had a deadly effect on fish eggs, reducing the Bay Area's supply of herring and other baitfish. Game-fish have been readily biting in the Bay this summer, but the bait most commonly used to catch them, anchovies, has virtually disappeared, career fisherman and Berkeley Marina bait-shop operator Dennis Deaver said. Grunion, another type of baitfish, also have proved elusive this summer in the Bay, Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher Karen Martin said. "It's possible they had a disruption of their food chain and it's possible they weren't able to get big enough to spawn," Martin said. "There were areas that were oiled that we know grunion use for spawning." Much of the information on the spill's effects on the Bay ecology hasn't been shared publicly while the analysis is ongoing, according to environment advocates. "We have a basic understanding of the potential biological endpoints that people are worried about, but we don't really know what the results of the analysis are saying," said scientist Jen Kovecses, who works with the San Francisco-based water-watchdog Baykeeper. Data collection could be finished as soon as November, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesman Al Donner. "It will still take time to quantify," he said. The assessment will help the state and federal governments charge the ship's owners and operators for the damages wrought by the spill, so the money can be spent on restoration projects, Donner said. Cleanup and restoration costs are expected to top $60 million, according to court filings by the Hong Kong-based owner and operator of the Cosco Busan, which has blamed the U.S. government for the disaster. Coast Guard tackling problems at spill's core U.S. Coast Guard officials say changes made immediately after the spill will prevent some of the problems that unfolded after the Cosco Busan crashed into the Bay Bridge. Initial statements from state and federal officials estimated that about 140 gallons of fuel had spilled into the Bay following the ship's 8:30 a.m. collision with the Bay Bridge. Only after dusk were local governments and media informed that more than 50,000 gallons of low-grade shipping fuel had gushed out into the water. Coast Guard Capt. Paul Gugg - who took over leadership of the multi-agency cleanup team seven days after the accident and was later appointed commander of the agency's San Francisco sector - defended the spill response, but conceded that initial underestimates of its size may have caused other agencies "to not get spun up" about the mess. To prevent similar underestimates in the future, the Coast Guard will report the potential volume of a spill based on the size of the ruptured tank, Gugg said. The Coast Guard also came under fire because its Vessel Traffic Service, a Yerba Buena Island-based operation that watches boat traffic from the Pacific Ocean to Sacramento, did little to prevent the accident. The five-person team now will have a "more proactive role" when it comes to guiding ships, particularly in heavy fog, Gugg said. When the Cosco Busan set sail Nov. 7, it violated a guideline that barred ships from the Bay when visibility was less than one mile. That rule was "unworkable" because the Bay is frequently spottily foggy and it was therefore "largely ignored," Gugg said. The vessel service now will enforce a new guideline that bars ships from venturing into fog when visibility is less than a half-mile, Gugg said. Additionally, a new Coast Guard response boat has been purchased and moored at the Richmond Marina. Investigations found that inexperienced Coast Guard officials were deployed to assess the situation while a California Office of Spill Response official was stuck on land waiting hours for a boat to take him to the fog-shrouded scene. Charges against pilot to be discussed this week Federal charges against John Cota, the man who piloted the Cosco Busan into the thick November fog and into the Bay Bridge, are slated to be discussed at a hearing Friday before a U.S. district judge in San Francisco. The U.S. Justice Department charged Cota with two felony counts of lying about his health in pilot license applications and with two misdemeanor counts of breaking environmental laws. Last month, his attorneys asked a federal judge to dismiss the charges. Cota also has announced that he will retire as a state-licensed pilot Oct. 1. In a civil lawsuit, the U.S. Justice Department has sought damages and cleanup costs from Cota, from the Cosco Busan's Hong Kong-based owners and operators Regal Stone and Fleet Management, and from Cosco Busan insurer Shipowners' Insurance and Guaranty. The federal government secured an $80 million bond from the vessel's owners before releasing it from U.S. waters. In a counterclaim, the ship's owner and operator say the U.S. and California governments caused the spill by, among other things, licensing a pilot who was "medically unfit and incompetent" to perform his duties and by placing him on their boat. The claim says damages from the incident could exceed $60 million. The U.S. Justice Department continues to hold six senior members of the container ship's Chinese crew in the United States as witnesses. San Francisco secured an initial compensation payout of $2 million for damages caused by the oil spill as the result of an agreement struck between city officials and the Cosco Busan owners and operators. Protecting the Bay from future spills State lawmakers introduced numerous bills following widespread criticism of the tardy, ineffective and uncoordinated emergency response by various government agencies and cleanup companies. However, none of these bills has become law, and some face powerful opposition. SB 1056 Author: State Sen. Carole Migden What it would do: Would require the state to immediately report oil spills to counties and to respond to spills within two hours, instead of the current six-hour limit. Status: Passed Senate, awaiting Assembly vote. AB 2547 Author: Assemblymember Mark Leno What it would do: Cleanup companies would be required to respond to a spill in the Bay with modern equipment within 30 minutes. The bill also creates a $5 million grant program to help develop new oil containment and cleanup equipment. Status: Passed Assembly, awaiting Senate vote. AB 2935 Author: Assemblymember Jared Huffman What it would do: Would create a program to quickly train volunteers after an oil spill to help cleanup operations. Fishermen would be hired as cleanup workers. Status: Passed Assembly, awaiting Senate vote. AB 2031 Author: Assemblymember Loni Hancock What it would do: Ship owners would be required to provide spill volume estimate updates to the California Office of Emergency. Status: Passed Assembly, awaiting Senate vote. SB 965 Author: State Sen. Alan Lowenthal What it would do: State would analyze tides, currents, winds and other natural phenomenon to better predict the movement of oil spills. Status: In Senate AB 2032 Author: Assemblymember Loni Hancock What it would do: State could raise an additional $18 million per year by increasing a maximum tax on crude oil and gasoline for an Oil Spill Prevention and Administration Fund from 5 cents a barrel to 8 cents if becomes law. Status: Passed Assembly, awaiting Senate vote. By the numbers: The Cosco Busan oil spill's heavy toll 53,569: Gallons of fuel spilled 2,519*: Birds killed by the oil 168: Cleanup workers on the first day of the disaster 1,399: Cleanup workers on day seven 50: Miles of coastline oiled 3*: Mammals killed by the oil *estimate Sources: California Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Coast Guard Hearings on oil spill launch this morning original / top April 8, 2008 The navigation equipment on the Cosco Busan was found to be in good working order during an inspection by its manufacturer after the container ship swiped the Bay Bridge in November, an engineer for the manufacturer is expected to testify today. Petaluma pilot John Cota told National Transportation Safety Board investigators after the crash that there were problems with the ship's radar and electronic charts before the ship left port and during its short, ill-fated voyage in heavy fog, investigators said at the time. An engineer at Sperry Marine - a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corp. that manufactured the ship's navigation equipment in 2001 - is scheduled to testify this morning at the start of a two-day NTSB hearing into the accident. The navigation equipment onboard the Cosco Busan was inspected by a Sperry Marine service engineer on Nov. 12 and determined to be in "good working order with no faults found," Northrop Grumman spokesman Tom Delaney told The Examiner on Monday. He said both of the ship's radars successfully detected the Bay Bridge's radar beacons when tested. Cota is facing federal environmental charges carrying up to 18 months in jail and $115,000 in fines over the spill of more than 50,000 gallons of toxic shipping fuel caused by the accident. The slick closed area beaches for months, killed seals and thousands of birds, and delayed the annual crabbing and herring seasons. Cota's attorneys in a March letter suggested the NTSB investigate whether the Chinese crew adjusted the equipment before the accident, and whether the Sperry engineer adjusted the equipment after the accident. The NTSB this morning will release thousands of pages of evidence unearthed during its investigation, including transcripts of brief exchanges in English between Cota and Capt. Mao Cai Sun that were recorded as the ship steamed toward the Bay Bridge tower and after the impact, according to NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson. Sun and five other Chinese members of the crew are being kept on witness warrants in a hotel, according to Chinese Consulate spokesman Defa Tong. Also on Monday, bills in the state Legislature that would help cleanup crews speed up their response to oil spills advanced in committees. The bills call for local officials to get faster notice of spills. Volunteers would get training and equipment to help clean up oil-contaminated beaches and wildlife. Bay still shows signs of oil contamination original / top Dec. 21, 2007 As the Cosco Busan powered out of the Bay on Thursday, tests revealed that it had left behind traces of spilled fuel in shoreline fish-breeding habitats. The Hong Kong-based container ship spilled 58,000 gallons of heavy shipping fuel into the Bay on Nov. 7 after slamming into a tower of the Bay Bridge. The toxic slick spread from Drakes Bay south to San Mateo County, U.S. Coast Guard charts show. On Thursday, California Department of Fish and Game biologist Ryan Watanabe and herring fisherman Dennis Deaver conducted a test to check for fuel on the Bay floor within 500 feet of the shoreline. They cast an anchored, 390-foot herring gill net over popular fishing and fish-spawning habitat near Treasure Island, Angel Island and Tiburon. Deaver, who has been fishing for 41 years, described the test results as "scary." He said the department should cancel this winter's commercial herring season. "We may need all the fish to spawn to secure the future of the fishery," Deaver said. He said buyers in Japan - San Francisco's main herring market - will avoid the fish if any is oiled. Department biologist John Mello, who oversees the Bay fishery, said the test results would be provided to federal and state agencies that managed post-spill cleanup efforts. They could decide to close the herring season, he said, which would normally have started this month. Although no globs of oil clung to the net, as the pair had feared, nets picked up oil-covered pieces of eelgrass and flotsam, and the anchor and rope were covered with what appeared to be oily silt. "We'll have to send that to the lab to see if that mud had some oil in it," Watanabe said. "It kind of looked like it did, but sometimes you get detrital mud - and it's just black." Analysis of the vegetation, flotsam and silt samples is due to begin today, according to Watanabe. When Deaver hosed down the net after six tests, a thin oil slick covered the water that pooled at the bottom of the boat. Herring eggs laid on oiled rocks or vegetation won't hatch, according to Deaver and Watanabe. The Department of Fish and Game also sent scuba divers into deeper parts of the Bay on Wednesday and Thursday to conduct vegetation surveys. The divers found less eelgrass in the Bay than last year, according to department biologist Ryan Bartling, but he said the reduction might not have been caused by the oil spill. "We had a visibility of one-inch," Bartling said Thursday. "What small amount [of eelgrass] we saw looked fairly healthy, with no noticeable oil." The death toll The most recent information about the Cosco Busan cleanup efforts: 123 Total personnel employed 1,818 Birds dead on arrival 1,083 Total birds captured 648 Birds that died in facility 400 Birds released 45 Birds washed remaining in facility 1,300 Remaining feet of boom laid out Source: Cosco Busan Unified Command Group turns oil into food for 'shrooms original / top Dec. 18, 2007 A San Francisco resident and others who used human hair to scour Cosco Busan shipping fuel from Bay Area shorelines think they've come up with a way to use mushrooms to organically turn spilled oil into compost, but attempts to use the container ship's spilled fuel to test the technology have been thwarted. Lisa Gautier and other beach lovers used mats of human hair, which is naturally oil-absorbent, to collect some of the 58,000 gallons of shipping fuel that spilled into the Bay on Nov. 7. Gautier said they handed the fuel that they collected over to National Response Corp., which was hired to help clean up after the spill. The fuel includes oil and oil additives. But Gautier says she now regrets handing over the fuel, and she's trying to get 20 gallons back for a trial project at Presidio National Park that would use the fuel as food for oyster mushrooms. Presidio spokeswoman Dana Polk said the mushroom compost would be used as compost at the 1,490-acre park. Gautier said she wants to try growing the mushrooms in Cosco Busan fuel. She has written permission from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control to perform the tests using the hazardous fuel. "Mushrooms love to break down hair and they also love to break down the hydrocarbons in oil," Gautier said. "The people at NRC have to pay to incinerate their waste oil and it just turns it into air pollution that we all breathe." But Gautier said an official with the National Response Corp., David Dell'Osso, has refused to hand over any of the fuel. Dell'Osso declined to discuss the issue with The Examiner on Monday. "I'm not allowed to talk to the press about that," he said. "That's company policy." Instead, Dell'Osso referred The Examiner to sister company Seacor International. "One reason that NRC is not offering up any oil is that it's not our oil to offer up to anybody," Seacor International General Manager Larry Pintler said. "[Gautier] should contact the owner of that oil." Gautier said nobody she's spoken with will claim ownership of the oil, which was recovered for the foreign-based owners and insurers of the Cosco Busan in an effort that was coordinated by the O'Brien's Group and federal agencies. Gautier said she plans to push ahead with tests using other oils and fuels. "We've used motor oil," she said. "That's doing really well after 15 days." Agency to discuss oil-spill response Mayor Gavin Newsom and U.S. Coast Guard officials are expected to discuss the slow response to the Cosco Busan spill during a meeting today of The City's Disaster Council. Local emergency services weren't immediately informed by Coast Guard officials that a container ship had crashed into the Bay Bridge on Nov. 7. Additionally, when they sent a fire boat to check out reports of an accident, they were turned away by Coast Guard officials, according to transcripts of communication that day. Coast Guard officials will atttend today's meeting. Newsom is slated to make comments and offer recommendations in the wake of the spill, according to Office of Emergency Services Executive Director Laura Phillips. "Since we're in litigation right now, we're getting some guidance about what we can present at this point," Phillips said. "But we want to get some information out there, and we want to be transparent." Members of the Disaster Council include Newsom, police Chief Heather Fong, fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, Department of Public Health Director Mitchell Katz and other high-ranking officials, according to the meeting agenda. Overhaul of oil-spill cleanups proposed original / top Dec. 7, 2007 Companies and government agencies charged with containing and cleaning up oil spills in California may be required to use new cleanup technology and deploy cleanup equipment more rapidly after spills, under a suite of bills proposed this week by state lawmakers in the wake of the Cosco Busan accident. The California Office of Spill Prevention and Response, and cleanup companies, control oil spills with long, floating booms. They recover boomed oil using skimmers, which are mechanical limbs attached to boats. Booms weren't used to control the 58,000 gallons of fuel that gushed from the container ship's hull until more than 2½ hours after it gashed against a Bay Bridge tower on Nov. 7, senators were told at a hearing last week. State Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, announced Wednesday that she would draft legislation to reduce the maximum response times to San Francisco Bay spills from six hours to two hours. At a news conference attended by several Bay Area Assembly members, Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said he will propose legislation to provide $5 million in funding for new oil spill cleanup technology. Booms used by the shipping industry-funded Marine Spill Response Corp., which was hired by the Cosco Busan's insurer to control and clean up the spill, were useless immediately after the spill, Vice President Steve Ricks told a recent hearing of the Harbor Safety Committee, because the tide was sweeping through the Bay at up to 2.9 knots. About one-third of the Cosco Busan oil has been recovered, according to U.S. Coast Guard figures. "If that current is more than 1 knot," Ricks said, "then that boom is going to tip over, and oil in the water will either go over or under." The lawmakers also said they will call on the governor to appoint an independent commission to investigate the state's response to the Cosco Busan crash. "We can't have our own agencies self-assessing what went wrong," Leno said. Other bills proposed would ensure that local emergency agencies would immediately be informed of oil spills; provide additional response funds through a 25 cent per gallon tax on imported oil; and require private companies to buy the best available cleanup technology. Prediction of spill's path called inaccurate original / top Nov. 30, 2007 Ship fuel cleanup efforts after the Cosco Busan struck the Bay Bridge early this month were guided for two hours by incorrect information on the direction of the slick as it spread in heavy fog around the Bay. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provided emergency workers with predictions of the trajectory of the Nov. 7 oil spill at noon that day - more than three hours after the crash, according to congressional testimony by the agency. Emergency workers charged with containing and collecting the 58,000 gallons of fuel that gushed from the hull of the container ship relied on NOAA's predictions of the direction of the oil spill, which two NOAA officials on Thursday admitted were inaccurate. Federal officials are already under fire for how they handled the spill, one of the worst environmental disasters to hit the Bay in decades. After the accident, the U.S. Coast Guard told city officials and the public that hundreds of gallons of fuel had spilled, but after nightfall it updated that figure to 58,000 gallons. The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday defended NOAA's faulty predictions. "The oil didn't cooperate with what NOAA predicted it was supposed to do," said local Coast Guard Capt. David Swatland, who helped coordinate the federal response to the spill. "Which is Mother Nature - it's not completely predictable." Heavy fog prevented emergency workers from visually surveying the slick from the air until 2 p.m., according to Steve Ricks, a vice president at the Marine Spill Response Corporation, which was hired by the container ship's insurer to mop up the fuel. "We couldn't see it," Ricks told a packed special meeting of the Harbor Safety Committee on Thursday. "We didn't know where it was." NOAA Commander Gerry Wheaton testified at the meeting that new technology could help improve future predictions and improve the agency's understanding of surface currents. "The equipment is coming - the issue is how to integrate the information into one package," Wheaton said. "Too much information can hamper. Not enough information can hamper." Bay Bridge bumper bits lost original / top Nov. 29, 2007 Massive hunks of black plastic have eluded authorities in San Francisco Bay since they were torn off a Bay Bridge tower earlier this month by the Cosco Busan, according to a federal official with the Army Corps of Engineers. The bases of the Bay Bridge's towers are surrounded by patchworks of wood, hard plastic and steel that reduce damage from ship collisions. When the 900-foot container ship scraped against one of the towers, it tore open its hull, allowing 58,000 gallons of shipping fuel to escape, and it blasted some of the bridge's protective fender system into the Bay. Most of the debris from the fender was never found, despite an intensive search, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers local operations chief Mike Dillabough. There's a "remote chance" some is still floating in the Bay, he said, adding that it could resurface in the Bay, where it could cause an accident if it collides with a ship or a boat. "We were able to gather the wood," Dillabough said. "The only things that were missing were these massive constructions of rubber that do not break apart." "It floats about 3 or 4 inches below the water and it's black," he said. "It's black stuff in black water. We only picked up one section, and it was very difficult to find." Dillabough estimated that the roughly 15 tons of plastic collected was about one-third of what fell in the water. He said the plastic would have been easier to find if contractors had used a brighter color. Some of the rest could have floated out to sea on high tides that followed the crash, Dillabough said, and some could have sunk and become lodged in mud, especially since some of it was bound to steel. How much plastic fell into the water is unknown, because it's hard to estimate how much remained on the bridge, according to a spokesman for the company that upgraded the fender last year and was called on this month by the California Department of Transportation to replace the broken section. About 33 tons of steel and 43 tons of black "plastic lumber," made from recycled plastic, will be used to build the new section of fender, according to Robert Ikenberry of Pleasanton-based California Engineering Contractors. He said wood would be left out of the new design. Removal of the damaged fender is scheduled to begin today, according to Department of Transportation spokeswoman Lauren Wonder, and the new fender is expected to be in place by mid-January. Until then, a barge is stationed next to the tower to act as a barrier, according to Wonder, although it will sometimes leave the tower to pick up fender supplies. Hearing on crash The state Senate's Natural Resources Committee will hold an investigative hearing - called by state Sen. Carole Migden - into the Cosco Busan crash at 9 a.m. Friday at the state Capitol, Room 4203, in Sacramento. Birds death toll continues climb following oil spill original / top Nov. 26, 2007 Fuel spilled from the Cosco Busan more than two weeks ago continued its carnage of San Francisco Bay wildlife over the Thanksgiving weekend, with 173 local and migratory birds killed or found killed, taking the grim death toll Sunday to 2,125 birds and a harbor seal. Hundreds of trained volunteers and workers have collected and rescued birds affected by oil after the Cosco Busan scraped against a Bay Bridge tower Nov. 7, which led to a 58,000-gallon spill of low-grade shipping fuel. Of the 2,647 birds collected as of Sunday, 2,125 were dead and 188 had been released, according to official figures. Another 334 were being cleaned and rehabilitated by hopeful rescue workers, although many of those will also die. Birds can freeze to death when they're covered with oil because their feathers lose insulating properties, and they can die after they eat or ingest the toxic sludge. Birds of threatened and endangered species have been killed, said Sylvia Wright of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at UC Davis, including three marbled murrelets, two brown pelicans and a snowy plover. Just 2,300 tiny snowy plovers live and breed on West Coast beaches, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. Figures provided by Wright paint a gloomy picture around the Bay, which is a popular stop for birds as they migrate along the Pacific Flyway between Alaska and Chile. According to Wright's figures, birds from 57 species have been found dead by the end of last week, including more than 300 surf scoters. Eighty thousand of the 18-inch black and brown ducks call the Bay home during winter, according to researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey. More than 200 Western grebes have also been killed, according to Wright. The ducks, which have pointy beaks and swanlike necks, are found from Mexico to Canada, and they nest in plants on the Bay during spring and summer. Scoters and grebes are "especially susceptible" to the fuel, Golden Gate Audubon Society Executive Director Elizabeth Murdock said, because "they spend a lot of time in the Bay - they dive to the bottom of the Bay to feed on crustaceans." Birds and other wildlife will continue to be harmed by the fuel long after cleanup crews have gone home, Murdock warned, as toxins from the fuel build up in their prey. "Having a crisis like the oil spill just puts additional stress on these birds," she said. "They both have suffered population declines over the last few decades." Species most frequently killed by the spill: Source: Oiled Wildlife Care Network Most of spill's whereabouts unknown original / top Nov. 19, 2007 Some of the cancer-causing gunk that spilled from the Cosco Busan's fuel tank 12 days ago has dissolved into the Bay; some has attached to flotsam and sunk; and some has lined the Bay's floor, where it's expected to kill and contaminate fish, crabs and the microscopic life that feed the marine ecosystem, according to scientists, fishermen and environmental groups. Nearly two-thirds of the 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel that spilled into the Bay after the 900-foot container ship hit the Bay Bridge is unaccounted for, but officials say they haven't surveyed the Bay or ocean floor to find out how much settled there. Bunker fuel is a cheap and heavy fuel used in ships. "Some of the material in the bunker fuel will dissolve into the water column and some of it will sink," said Jen Kovecses, an aquatic ecologist at the nonprofit San Francisco Bay Keeper. "It's not easy to remove." Dissolved fuel and fuel additives are absorbed through fish gills, according to Kovecses, and accumulate in mussels, polychaete worms and other water-filtering critters that are eaten by bigger creatures. Benzene and naphthalene, found in bunker fuel, cause cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Gooey bunker fuel, which is left behind after higher-grade fuels are distilled from crude oil, is blended with other fuels and oils to make it runny enough for ship engines. Preliminary tests suggest the Cosco Busan's fuel had been blended with diesel, San Francisco Bay Keeper Program Director Sejal Choksi said. Diesel contains benzene and similar cancer-causing toxins, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Toxins could linger under the surface of the Bay for decades, Save The Bay Executive Director David Lewis warned. A U.S. Coast Guard statement issued Sunday said that tiny balls of fuel and sand can resurface hours or days after they sink, but the properties of bunker fuel mean all of it stayed afloat or washed ashore. But fishermen tell a different story. "I went in very shallow at Angel Island," commercial fisherman Ernie Koepf said, "and the boat bounced on the rocks on the bottom and kicked up an oil slick." Koepf, who advises the California Department of Fish and Game on Pacific herring, asked the department to survey the Bay floor after it canceled an annual underwater vegetation survey. "If they don't want to dive because they'll get oily," Koepf said, "then we want to be involved in some other method of sampling the hard substrate and the vegetation." The water beneath the site of the Cosco Busan crash is used by herring and other baitfish. "We have now really done something quite awful," Bay Institute scientist Tina Swanson said, "to what was one of the only healthy parts of the Bay." Firm: 'Not enough' responders to oil spill original / top Nov. 14, 2007 Power tools, oil skimmers and boats that could have been used to contain and clean fuel from the surface of San Francisco Bay sat idle last week, as the company contracted to clean up the Cosco Busan fuel spill waited for hundreds of qualified emergency workers to fly to San Francisco from as far away as Alaska and Massachusetts. The O'Brien's Group disaster management company was hired by insurers of Hong Kong-based Regal Stone Ltd., which owns the 900-foot container ship, immediately after the vessel clipped the Bay Bridge. The company was given the task of coordinating subcontractor efforts to contain and clean the 58,000 gallons of ship fuel that gushed into the Bay. A handful of employees of the Marine Spill Response Corporation, hired by The O'Brien's Group to help mop up the mess, sent an unsigned letter to state lawmakers this week criticizing the speed and effectiveness of the cleanup. "There were not enough dedicated, qualified responders in the Bay Area available to help with the cleanup and recovery efforts immediately following the incident," the employees wrote in the letter to state Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, and state Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco. A shortage of qualified responders in the Bay Area at the time of the spill meant most of the fuel had dispersed over a large area before qualified staff were in place, according to the letter. "Industry officials have been understaffing their dedicated spill response operations in the Bay Area and elsewhere," the employees wrote, "because there are no rules to prevent them from doing so." The letter adds another layer of criticism in the aftermath of the environmental disaster: The ship's pilot says cleanup crews took 90 minutes to reach the boat; city officials have complained that their offers of help were ignored by the U.S. Coast Guard; and Coast Guard Capt. William Uberti on Wednesday was demoted from the response team back to regular duties as commander of the San Francisco office for failing to report the size of the spill to other agencies. The practice of "cascading," in which emergency crews are flown from other states to use local equipment for the management of oil spills and other disasters, was blamed for slowing cleanup efforts in the anonymous letter, and by Inland Boatmen's Union spokesman Craig Merrilees, who said he represents the authors of the letter. Barry McFarland, a spokesman for the O'Brien's Group, which coordinated cleanup companies and cleanup efforts, defended the speed of the effort and said hundreds of people "cascaded in" to The City "in an extremely short time" to help manage the spill from such places as Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. top |