Firm handling SF oil spill cleanup is mostly unregulated, little known

[babylonsister]

Firm handling oil spill cleanup is mostly unregulated, little known

Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, November 18, 2007

The success or failure of the massive fuel oil cleanup in San Francisco hinges on a little-known Louisiana company that works for big oil shipping lines and is largely self-regulated.

The O'Brien's Group, which specializes in managing messes, is handling the disaster for the container ship Cosco Busan, which sideswiped the Bay Bridge on Nov. 7, spilling 58,000 gallons of fuel oil into San Francisco Bay.

The disaster created an uproar among politicians, community activists and volunteers who want to know who is responsible for the miscommunication and foot-dragging that allowed time for strong bay currents to disperse the sludge and foul beaches throughout the Bay Area.

The buck, as it were, may stop with the Cosco Busan, but the blame might well be laid on O'Brien's gangway.

"A lot of questions need to be asked of the O'Brien's Group," said Sejal Choksi, program director of the environmental group Baykeeper, which has been highly critical of the way the cleanup operation was conducted.

more...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/18/MNRDTCBQA.DTL

[unhappycamper]

1. Interesting.

These guys have been around for almost 20 years and little is known of them.

The O'Brien's Group is owned by SEACOR and the chairman's name is Randall Blank.

http://www.aptwater.com/_company/boardofdirectors.html

Randall Blank, SEACOR Environmental Services Inc.

Randall Blank, Chairman of the Board, was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of SEACOR Environmental Services Inc. (SES) in September 2005. From December 1989 to September 2005, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of SEACOR Holdings Inc. (SEACOR). From October 1992 to September 2005, he also served as the Secretary of SEACOR. From December 1989 to October 1992, Mr. Blank was Treasurer of SEACOR. In addition, Mr. Blank has been a director of certain of SEACOR's subsidiaries since January 1990 and, since October 1997, has been the President of the Company's environmental services segment. Mr. Blank is a director of Globe Wireless, Applied Process Technology Inc., and prior to the Chiles Offshore merger Mr. Blank served as a director of Chiles Offshore Inc.

Chiles Offshore Inc. was bought by ENSCO in 1992. SEACOR was the largest stockholder in Chilies. Charles Fabrikant was the Chiles' chairman at the time of the purchase. Mr. Fabrikant is also on the board of directors at SEACOR.

Businnessweek reports .

Mr. Fabrikant "is connected to 32 board members in 5 different organizations across 2 different industries."

Mr. Fabrikant is on the board of directors for Global Technology Industries Inc, privately held company that

Global Technology Industries, Inc. does not have significant operations. The company intends to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset or stock acquisition, or other similar business combination with one or more operating businesses. It intends to focus on industrial technology and related companies. The company was founded by Michael P. Schulhof, Robert B. Kay, and Jonathan N. Schulhof in January 2006. Global Technology Industries is based in New York City. GTI was founded in 2006.


Call me silly, but I get the feeling that not all is on the up and up. :shrug:

[babylonsister]

3. I'm not about to call you silly; I agree, something seems rancid. nt

[EFerrari]

2. Every single entity involved with this spill has screwed up in some way.

If these people don't, I'm going to be very surprised. Apparently, nobody knows how to have a disaster around here.