http://sfist.com/2008/08/27/oil_spill_response_time_shortened.php All comments for Oil Spill Response Time Shortened en-us 2009 SFist_Brock Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:45:53 -0800 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss brochtrup@gmail.com brochtrup@gmail.com 60 http://sfist.com/2008/08/27/oil_spill_response_time_shortened.php#comment-1447946 http://sfist.com/2008/08/27/oil_spill_response_time_shortened.php#comment-1447946 Comments Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:09:12 -0800 <p>I'm an officer on a tanker-assist/ spill-response vessel in Valdez, Alaska and the arrangement we have in place in the event of a spill is incredible up there, but the only way we'll ever have anything that resembles the infrastructure of Prince William Sound/ Valdez is if we have a spill that causes that much damage and media exposure. What we had here was minor, just a few percent of the oil that found the water in Valdez, and not nearly as important to the US economy as the damage to the Alaskan fishery as what happened in 1989. The technology exists to skim the oil off the water, and a few barges with towing boats and skiffs alongside or at least dedicated to them in case of a spill could be anywhere in the bay within two hours. If this bill passes, I hope and think it will necessitate more boats and jobs for US sailors in the Bay. When we had our spill, I was at work, but when I came home almost two weeks earlier, I could still smell the bunker fuel on Ocean Beach from my front door.</p> http://sfist.com/2008/08/27/oil_spill_response_time_shortened.php#comment-1447944 http://sfist.com/2008/08/27/oil_spill_response_time_shortened.php#comment-1447944 Comments Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:05:56 -0800 <p>I'm an officer on a tanker-assist/ spill-response vessel in Valdez, Alaska and the arrangement we have in place in the event of a spill is incredible up there, but the only way we'll ever have anything that resembles the infrastructure of Prince William Sound/ Valdez is if we have a spill that causes that much damage and media exposure. What we had here was minor, just a few percent of the oil that found the water in Valdez, and not nearly as important to the US economy as the damage to the Alaskan fishery as what happened in 1989. The technology exists to skim the oil off the water, and a few barges with towing boats and skiffs alongside or at least dedicated to them in case of a spill could be anywhere in the bay within two hours. If this bill passes, I hope and think it will necessitate more boats and jobs for US sailors in the Bay. When we had our spill, I was at work, but when I came home almost two weeks earlier, I could still smell the bunker fuel on Ocean Beach from my front door.</p>