Aryanews- Some of the hundreds of gallons of bunker fuel oil spilled Friday in San Francisco Bay have started washing onto shore, polluting area beaches and killing dozens of birds.
State regulators suspended fishing and shellfish harvesting in parts of the bay, and officials asked people to avoid some beaches while mop-up efforts continue today.
Meanwhile, Coast Guard authorities said they would investigate whether any mistakes were made in the initial response to the spill. Some environmental groups questioned why it took several hours to position containment booms around the leak and beaches in the spill zone.
"That's what the Coast Guard and Fish and Game are looking at right now ... the timeliness," said Lt. Rob Roberts of the California Department of Fish and Game.
At 6:48 a.m. Friday, the Panamanian tanker Dubai Star spilled bunker oil into the bay as the ship was being refueled about 2 1/2 miles south of the Bay Bridge.
The oil sheen quickly covered a miles-long swath of water; however, aerial assessments and measurements of the tanker's fuel capacity showed only 400 to 800 gallons of bunker fuel had been spilled, officials said Saturday.
The cause of the spill is still under investigation, but early evidence pointed to mechanical failure.
For watchdogs of the bay's ecosystem and wildlife, the incident brought back memories of the disastrous 2007 Cosco Busan incident, which dumped nearly 60,000 gallons of bunker fuel, killing thousands of birds and fouling sensitive shorelines. The Coast Guard and other agencies came under attack for the poor communication and sluggish response to that spill, which occurred two years ago this month.
Response time
It took several hours Friday to deploy booms around the tanker. And at least one environmental group wondered why responders didn't immediately place a protective boom along Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda - the spot hardest hit by the spill.
By Saturday, tar balls - some the size of silver dollars and a few as big as seat cushions - had washed up along shore every 5 to 10 yards.
About 60 oiled birds, about half that had died, were found at that site, according to the East Bay Regional Park District. The Coast Guard would confirm only the collection of 12 oiled-but-surviving birds.
"It's a natural collection place for oil, and (National Weather Service) trajectories showed that it was going to be a target," said Deb Self, executive director for San Francisco Baykeeper.
One dead grebe and an oil-soaked gull were found just across the Inner Harbor Channel at Middle Harbor, in Oakland, according to John Escobar, the assistant general manager of the East Bay Regional Park District.
"We have the beaches closed to provide an onshore refuge for the birds," Escobar said. "Oiled birds need to get onshore because they lose their insulation."
