Friday I brought you the story of the tragic environmental catastrophe that occurred after an oil tanker the size of the Titanic collided with the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. Over the weekend new details came to light about exactly who is to blame for the accident and just what the consequences are going to be for local wildlife.
First off let’s talk about the clean up efforts over the weekend. What was initially estimated by the U.S. Coast Guard to be an oil leak of 140 gallons, is now being estimated to be around 58,000 gallons. 20,000 gallons of which were sucked up by the end of the day Saturday thanks to 770 workers going at it around the clock. Now to me this seems like a good chunk of the oil gone. I mean that’s almost half, but CNN is saying the job will take months before it is considered finished.
As for why the tanker hit the bridge in the first place, the Coast Guard is blaming it on human error. "There were skilled enough individuals on board this ship. They didn’t carry out their missions correctly" says Rear Admiral Craig Bone. A gash approximately 100 feet long was cut into the size of the tanker and according to reports concerning the pilot’s response to questions regarding their current position, the tankers instruments seemed to be reading that they were on the correct heading.
In terms of wildlife it may take years to recover. "Oil and feathers don’t mix. We’re in a time crunch. The birds can only stayed oiled for so long before they can no longer be rehabilitated." says Department of Fish and Game biologist Yvonne Addassi.
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November 19th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
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