A timeline of San Francisco Oil Spill
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
- 06:31 AM: The Cosco Busan, a China COSCO Holdings, the 65,131-ton, an 810-foot-long container ship, left the Port of Oakland and travel through dense fog.
- 08:30 AM: The ship struck into a fender around a support tower of Bay Bridge. The incident did not damage the bridge and traffic continued to flow.
- 08:31 AM: Cosco Busan Capt. John Cota notified the Coast Guard. He observed a sheen in the water and reported to VTS (Costa Guard Vessel Traffic Service) that there was an oil spill. Successor pilot reported to other federal and state agencies who monitor spills.
- 09:03 AM: Coast Guard dispatched its vessels.
- Early Coast Guard reports had described the leak as 3-feet (1-metre) wide and only 140 gallons had spilled from the vessel.
- 04:00 PM: Yet up until 4 p.m., officials apparently believed only 140 gallons of oil had leaked.
- 09:00 PM: Officials learned that the spill was 58,000 gallons of heavy duty bunker fuel and publicly announced.
- 11:00 PM: The Coast Guard said 200 people were working on the cleanup and, as of Wednesday night, had recovered about 8,000 gallons of the oil.
- Four picturesque beaches on both sides of the landmark Golden Gate Bridge — Baker, Fort Point, China, and Crissy Field — were closed.
- California Department of Fish, said workers had found six dead birds and 26 others alive slicked with oil.
“If it’s only 3 feet away from the edge of the ship, there are oil absorbent pads that you can use, and it should be easily cleaned up,” Wil Bruhns, supervising engineer of San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board said.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
- The Coast Guard said 200 people were working on the cleanup and had recovered about 9,500 gallons of the oil. Yet the pace of cleanup slowed as tides spread the fuel over a larger area.
- The Coast Guard said it had found 19 dead birds and 73 living birds slicked with oil. Many beaches around San Francisco remained closed.
“It doesn’t tend to break down very quickly,” Gerald Graham, on scene commander said. “It’s cheap, and it’s dirty. If the wind happens to blow it out into a channel or bay, it could spread, and then you could have miles of shoreline that could be affected.”
Friday, November 9, 2007
- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared the oil spill in San Francisco Bay an emergency.
- The Coast Guard said it had found 19 dead birds and 73 living birds slicked with oil. Many beaches around San Francisco remained closed.
- Weekend triathlon, Tri-California event in San Francisco, canceled the water portion because of the spill.
- 73 live, oiled birds are being rehabilitated
- There have been 19 confirmed deceased birds reported
- 11 skimmers are currently deployed on the water
- 10 wildlife recovery teams are on the beaches with additional teams joining Friday afternoon
- Over 9,500 gallons of fuel oil have been recovered as of Thursday night.
- Over 18,000 feet of boom has been placed around the area to soak up and corral the oil
- More than 200 people from over 19 federal, state, and local agencies are involved with the response efforts. Beginning tomorrow there will be an additional 200 trained responders to supplement the initial response team.
The public is reminded that they should avoid areas and wildlife that are oiled, as untrained persons may cause further damage, while attempting to assist.
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