SAN FRANCISCO— In a gathering of Bay Area state lawmakers today, Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) unveiled a proposal he will introduce in January to improve oil spill response and clean up through better technology and to improve response requirements for oil spill response organizations (OSROs) during the first hours following a spill.
“The technology used today to contain and clean up oil spills dates back to the 1960s,” stated Assemblyman Leno. “When only 20% of spilled bunker fuel is considered a ‘high’ recovery rate, we must develop better containment technologies that can help recapture more oil from spills in San Francisco Bay’s strong tidal currents and in rough seas. OSROs and vessel owners have little incentive to develop and deploy new spill response technologies, and my proposal seeks to correct this situation.”
The bill would require a comprehensive state evaluation of new spill response technologies every five years, and would provide competitive grants for basic research, testing, and a capital matching program for emerging spill technologies. The legislation would also clarify that the state Office of Spill Prevention and Response may require spill responders to use the best achievable technology, whether or not it is already in use elsewhere in the world.
Responding to charges private enterprises hired by the owners of the Cosco Busan were slow to respond, the Leno bill would also require private response organizations in the same region to develop “mutual aid agreements” to enable the prompt dispatch of resources that deliver the quickest possible response.
“Reports that no containment boom was deployed even two hours after the oil spill underscore that opportunities to minimize the spread and impact of the Cosco Busan disaster were simply missed,” continued Leno. “After six hours, the spill already stretched beyond the Golden Gate. We will be working with key stakeholders to increase response standards for OSROs within the first hours of a spill.”
Leno made his announcement in coordination with the Chair of Assembly Natural Resources Committee Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) and other Bay Area legislators who presented a package of bills aimed at improving the state’s oil spill prevention and response capabilities. Legislators stressed that more reforms would be forthcoming after further evaluation of the spill response.
Last year, Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) sponsored a bill banning two types of toxic chemicals used as fire retardants in foam padding in furniture. These chlorinated and brominated chemicals are linked to cancer, birth defects and reproductive disorders; they migrate from furniture to dust particles, are breathed in by children and pets, and are found in the breast milk of nursing mothers. That bill, however, never reached Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk, falling victim to election-year squabbling.
