By John Laird

November 21, 2007

When the captain of the 65,131-ton, 810-foot-long Cosco Busan cargo ship ran into a San Francisco Bay Bridge support tower on Nov. 7, he probably wasn’t thinking about how he was going to impact Thanksgiving in Santa Cruz County. But the governor’s ban on fishing due to the oil spill has caused many fans of crab for Thanksgiving dinner to change their plans.

Of course the real impact has little to do with Thanksgiving and everything to do with the ocean and the marine environment. The 58,000-gallon oil spill in San Francisco Bay, along with the recent catastrophic spills in the Black Sea, are truly disturbing events.

The spill is the worst the Bay Area has experienced in nearly 20 years, fouling shorelines miles from the accident site and resulting in hundreds of bird deaths.  In addition to birds such as ducks, grebes, loons, gulls, cormorants and pelicans, the spill threatens marine mammals (seals, sea lions, dolphins and whales) and many species of fish.

The chances are slim that the spill would drift all the way down the coast to the Monterey Bay.  But we’re still feeling effects.  Several oil-covered birds have reportedly been found in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.  And the lack of crab available for the holidays also means that crab fishers based in the Monterey Bay Area are headed for fiscal hardships.

Government and non-profit oil spill response programs have gotten a workout over the last couple of weeks. Gov. Schwarzenegger and Mayor Gavin Newsom have declared emergencies. Approximately 1,500 professionals and hundreds of volunteers are working in the water and on the shoreline to clean up the spill.

At the state level, the Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) lead the recovery effort.  In addition to staff and resources available at-the-ready, the OSPR manages a $55 million fund dedicated to spill response.  The governor has announced he will tap the fund to assist with the cleanup.

I had a bill this year to effectively double the amount of money available to the state.  The bill, AB 1220, clears up legal concerns by the state attorney general and allows the OSPR to borrow up to approximately $55 million to augment the existing clean up fund.

AB 1220 also updates the law to provide that any state bonds issued for the cleanup of oil spills be backed by fees on oil importers, exporters and refiners. In light of the spill in the San Francisco Bay, I’m pleased the governor signed the bill last month—and glad we specified the bill to take effect immediately.

Despite programs and funding that are already in place, and the strong volunteer response from the public, there are important questions being raised about the response to the San Francisco spill.  In the weeks and months ahead, there will likely be hearings and investigations into what changes can be made to increase prevention and reduce impacts for future spills.

In the meantime, work continues with the recovery effort—and volunteers are still needed.  If you would like to help our neighbors to the north, there are many ways to do it.

How you can help:

San Francisco: The Volunteer Center (thevolunteercenter.net) provides training and has an email sign-up system for ongoing information about the spill.

Berkeley: The city of Berkeley is coordinating a program focused on the Berkeley marina (cityofberkeley.info or 510-981-6720).

North Bay: Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary (tiburonaudubon.org or 415-388-2524).

Monterey Bay: Ocean Conservancy (oceanconservancy.org or 831-425-1363) and Save Our Shores: (saveourshores.org or 831-462-5660).

Other important organizations: International Bird Rescue Research Center (ibrrc.org) and Oiled Wildlife Care Network (owcn.org or 800-228-4544).

For up-to-date information about the spill, visit the Coast Guard’s Website: uscgsanfrancisco.com. And if you spot a patch of oil, call (985) 781-0804.

An oil spill is just about the worst disaster imaginable for our oceans. While I’m very concerned about the response time issues surrounding the San Francisco spill, I’m also thankful that constant advocacy in California has resulted in a public view that prevention and response should be a top priority. And I’m incredibly thankful for the day-to-day work done by so many to establish and protect the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.