Coast Guard criticized for oil spill response

[unhappycamper]

Crab fisherman Art Romine organizes his crab nets in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf area on Nov. 13 after Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on suspended all fishing in areas affected by last week's San Francisco Bay oil spill.


Coast Guard criticized for oil spill response
By Terence Chea - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Nov 13, 2007 21:37:12 EST

SAN FRANCISCO — Last week’s San Francisco Bay oil spill was an “unbelievable human failure,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday as he promised a thorough investigation into the accident and what he said was the Coast Guard’s slow response.

The governor temporarily suspended all fishing in areas affected by the 58,000-gallon spill, delaying Thursday’s scheduled start of the highly anticipated commercial season for Dungeness crab. Fishermen worried about the spill had sought the delay.

“It’s not only heartbreaking but it is also outrageous,” said Schwarzenegger, speaking in Oakland at the California State Association of Counties annual meeting. “Then on top of it, it takes that long to react to the oil spill so by the time the next day comes around, the oil is all over the bay.”

The spill occurred when a cargo ship struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in heavy fog Nov. 7, tearing a gash in its hull. The spill was the bay’s worst in nearly two decades.

“We have to really make sure that we investigate this thoroughly and to see also if we as a state can do more in order to prevent those kind of accidents,” Schwarzenegger said. “Believe me, we will ask the tough questions that need to be asked.”

Schwarzenegger also ordered the state Department of Public Health to determine whether people can become sick if they eat seafood caught in areas impacted by the fuel spilled by the cargo ship Cosco Busan.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_bayspill_071113/