Oil spill in San Francisco Bay worst ever in decades
According to CNN, an oil spill in San Fransisco Bay is said to be cause of human error, not mechanical error, according to the Coast Guard investigation, making this the worst oil spill in the area in decades.
The ship, Cosco Busan, side-swiped a support on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and caused a 100 foot long gash in the side of the 926 foot long vessel.
Over 58,000 gallons of fuel spilled into the bay Wednesday from the vessel two fuel tanks, killing sea birds and caused closings of over two dozen beaches and piers.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency.
Almost 20,000 gallons of oily liquid was sucked up by Saturday and 770 workers are trying to recover the area and clean-up the spilll as best they can. Officials say it may take months to clean up, but workers still willl not be able to recover most of the oil.
The oil will eventually dissolve in the water causing environmental damage.
Rescuers raced to the bay to try and rescue sea birds covered in thick oil and over 60 were found dead. Over 200 were rescued and taken to a rehibilitation center.
Coast guard officials have not yet determined an exact person or details of the cause yet, but the spill is linked to matters of communication between crew members, the one driving the vessel, and the Vessel Traffic Service, the Coast Guard station that monitors the bay's shipping traffic.
The fact that they hit a fixed object indicates it was cause for mis-communication.
According to MSNBC, officials are looking in to see whether the speed of the vessel could be another cause of the oil spill. Due to the foggy weather conditions, the vessel maybe should not have been going at the rate that it was, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Brendan McPherson.
The National Transportation Safety Board began their own investigation Sunday and could take up to a year before the investigation closes. The agency will look at everything from how fatigued the ship’s crew and captain were to any mechanical or weather issues that may have been involved in the accident, said Debbie Hersman, an NTSB spokeswoman.