Results tagged “oilspill”

While transferring oil from a barge to an oil tanker a little after 6:30 a.m. this morning, oil spilled into the San Francisco Bay this morning, leaving a big sheen. (Ugh.)

You may recall that container ship, the Cosco Busan, that plowed into one of the Bay Bridge supports back in November '07 and dumped 53,000 gallons of oil into the Bay, and the pilot of the ship is now facing sentencing in federal court in San Francisco. Pilot John Cota of Petaluma struck a plea bargain and faces 2 to 10 months in jail for 2 counts of negligently polluting the Bay and killing migratory birds. Defense attorney say Cota has "deep feelings of regret about the tragic events" but also say that there were other factors involved in the accident besides Cota's negligence, including heavy fog. Cota's blamed for causing upwards of $70 million in damages to local beaches, wildlife (like the oil-covered duck found at Lake Merritt, right) and the fishing industry. UPDATE: He got 10 months.

The California State Assembly passed a bill on Tuesday "that lowers the allowable response time to an oil spill in the San Francisco Bay from from six hours to two hours." Penned by sanity-estranged Sen. Carole Migden, she says that the bill is "necessary to combat the bay's natural tidal action" that spreads oil spills right-quick. And it will, hopefully, prevent tragic events like this from getting even muckier. That's right, . (CBS 5)

Although the National Transportation Safety Board has yet to release its report on the causes of last year's crash, today the pilot of the Cosco Busan, John Joseph Cota of Petaluma, was charged in federal court. The feds, it seems, found him in violation of two federal laws when he accidentally steered the container ship into the Bay Bridge on November 9 2007, which then released 53,000 gallons of oil into the bay.

No more salmon in Muir Woods?

Anonymous souces involved with the federal invstigation disclose information about drugs.

Cosco Busan Update:

Oh, those crazy hot-tubbing, wife-swapping, Al Qaeda-loving Marin County folk. It seems that now they're scalping their own children in an effort to tidy up the remaining Cosco Busan oil spill disaster. Students from Larkspur's Marin Primary and Middle School have willing lopped off locks of hair from their nubile heads, then donating said hair to Eco-Cuts, "a program designed by Marin Primary to help in the cleanup effort triggered by the Nov. 7 oil spill in the bay." Their dirty, dirty child hair will then go to Matter of Trust, a San Francisco-based environmental nonprofit that "weaves the hair into mats to soak up oil." According to the Marin Independent:

What a pretty name for a barge, yes?

In a Spearsian like maneuver, looking to trump both the recent storm and the Dhaliwal brothers, oil spill made a comeback this morning. It seems that a crane fell off of a san Francisco pier a little before 10 a.m. this morning, spilling "an unknown amount" of oil into the Bay. According to the Gate, "[t]he crane was on a sliding rail system at a dry dock at Pier 70 when it suddenly tilted to one side and fell into the water."

S.F. files against the Cosco Busan

Like the bad ass she is, occasional San Francisco resident and current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has written to the "Homeland Security Department's inspector general requesting an investigation of preparation for and response to last month's oil spill in San Francisco Bay," according to CBS 5. In a wordy missive to Inspector General Skinner, she fired off over a dozen issues she wants taken care of right-quick. A couple of points she needs to...

Just what's up with our least favorite oil spill dilemma, you ask? Let's find out: -- After 29 years of military service, Coast Guard Captain William Uberti will retire after the oil-spill SNAFU is over and done with. According to the Examiner, "Uberti was the region's sector commander when a container ship sideswiped the Bay Bridge in dense fog, dumping 58,000 gallons of thick bunker fuel into the bay." Uberti was soon replaced after...

Photo of a sexy photo shoot in front of a beach closed because of the oil spill

An update on news about the oil spill

-- Should MUNI boss Nate Ford get a raise? Gavin says sure. [N Judah Chronicles]

Phillyist prepared to party by doing the hustle, lighting the lights, shopping up a storm, and... visiting Khrushchev?

-- Bonds' final, fatal backlash continues. (I wonder how he spent his day today? Ugh.) [SFGate, SF Examiner, FCJ , SFBG, The Snitch]

The sands of Marin and San Mateo have officially reopened to the public. (We recommend hitting the beach in the fall. There's something luxurious about walking on the beach, bundled up in winter clothing.) What's more, 50 wild birds have been cleaned up and released at Pillar Point Yacht Harbor at Half Moon Bay. But what's worse, "the spill has cost the U.S. government $1.4 million, money spent on operations by the Coast Guard,...

Mayor Gavin Newsom had the gall -- the gall! -- to defend his Hawaiian sojourn , saying "I was gone Friday and Saturday...and one of the most remarkable things that’s happened in the last century is the ability to communicate with people in real time and engage in a dialogue and discussion and coordination and collaboration, without necessarily being physically in the same room." And you know what? Good for you, Mayor man. No,...

The kind folks over at Doc's Clock are hosting a fundraiser tomorrow night from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. to benefit Baykeeper. One hundred percent of the sales of Radeberger, Chimay Blue, Anchor Liberty (and more to be announced) will go to oil spill clean-up efforts. What a great excuse to down a couple (few) Chimays while playing a little shuffleboard.

Golden Gate Park saw an Overwhelming Response from Oil Spill Volunteers last night.

After screwing up mandated drug tests and failing to report the severity of the oil spill in a timely fashion, as of this morning Coast Guard Captain William Uberti is out. And an experienced specialist in oil SNAFUs, Capt. Paul Gugg, is in. According to the Chronicle, Gugg, 49, has "has crafted spill regulations and response plans in Washington, D.C., and helped design emergency tactics after the catastrophic 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska."...

Lawyers for all concerned now on the Busan

Photo of our Governor's briefing on Treasure Island yeasterday

Poring over Entertaining the other night, because our pulverized sleeping aid refused to kick in, we got so excited after reading "Bouillabaisse for Twelve to Sixteen". But now any plans of having said bouillabaisse party must be put on hold. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suspended all fishing and crab hunting until the first of December. You hear that? Dungeness crab season won't happen this month. There's nothing you can do about it expect curl up...

So...ugh. Birds died, gastronomic seasons were delayed. What's more, it hasn't even been a week, and already some of your favorite local and national politicos are personalizing the spill, more than ready to point old, spotty white fingers elsewhere. (RIP, acts of God.) How very helpful. Except not really.

Well spun, Dianne. Looking to use the oil spill to get some much needed face time -- perfect for balancing out other less savory images of the Senator -- Dianne Feinstein flew to San Francisco yesterday to put her foot down about the Bay Area's "disturbing lack of readiness" to the oil spill. "It's pretty clear cities around the bay should have been brought in faster than they were," she said, according to the...

After a few days of obsessively keeping up with reports of the oil spill clean-up efforts, we gathered up our oldest, least fashionable, and/or most mishapen clothes, along with a pair of rubber gloves and trash bags, and set out for Ocean Beach today. It turns out our old Doc Martens are oil-resistant -- we just might have to invest in some new soles for those disaster-ready babies. Check out more photos and details after...

A photo of beaches affected and unaffected by the recent oil spill