Cosco Busan Oil Spill Response
The 53,000 gallon bunker oil spill from a South Korea-bound container ship on November 7, 2007 was the worst ship-related spill in nearly two decades. Thousands of us banded together to push the cleanup agencies to let us help strip gunk from our shorelines, hold the polluters responsible, and make sure that something like this never happens again. San Francisco Baykeeper lead the way by patrolling our waters and coastlines, watchdogging the agencies, mobilizing volunteers, organizing safety trainings, and testifying in front of our elected officials. Your outpouring of community support and concern was vital to our efforts. Thank you very much!
Operating around the clock for two weeks, San Francisco Baykeeper staff put in over 2,000 hours to document the extent of the Cosco Busan oil spill, evaluate response of the Coast Guard and California Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) and generate political pressure to utilize local volunteer resources for oil spill cleanup.
San Francisco Baykeeper continues to work behind the scenes with agency personnel (including an anonymous Coast Guard whistleblower), city officials, vessel captains, volunteer San Francisco Baykeeper skippers and federal and state legislative staff to develop policy recommendations for reform of government protocol regarding oil spill preparedness, vessel traffic control, notification and communication, and spill containment, recovery and clean up. Our Program Director, Sejal Choksi, was appointed by the state senate two years ago to be a member of the technical advisory committee for OSPR, and we will use this position to pursue policy reform at the state level.
Our Executive Director, Deb Self, is participating in the Coast Guard’s internal investigation of the effectiveness of the Agency's oil spill response. On January 28, the Coast Guard released its initial analysis of efforts to respond to the November 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill. The report highlights the need for more training and practice drills in preparation for future oil spills, and it calls for better use of local resources and volunteers. Communications among response agencies and the public were also cited for improvement. The 130-page report offers 100 “lessons learned” and 128 recommendations for improving the response to future spills.
San Francisco Baykeeper helped develop the report along with representatives from several state and federal agencies, California Coastkeeper Alliance, and the shipping industry. The full report can be reviewed here. Baykeeper's top priorities can be seen here.
Baykeeper will continue to work with officials to ensure that the report's recommendations are followed. It is vital that these changes are made so that the wildlife, waters and shorelines of the Bay and coast are protected from future oil spills.
We Need Your Help
If you see oil, first, call the oil reporting hotline at 800-852-7550. Second, send accounts and photos of what you see (what, how much, where, and when) to volunteer@baykeeper.org so we can follow up on cleanup efforts. Areas that are hard to see from flyovers or motor boats are of particular importance. Please be cautious of harming marine habitat during low tide and keep a distance from distressed birds to avoid scaring them.