Federal criminal investigation launched
into cause of oil spill

By Laura Dudnick and Caitlin Cassady

November 12, 2007

With more than 40,000 gallons of oil still saturating Bay Area waters as of Sunday, a federal criminal investigation into the cause of last week's spill is under way, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Human error aboard a tanker ship appears to be what caused the 900-foot Cosco Busan to crash into a San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge tower Wednesday, gashing a hole into the ship from which approximately 58,000 gallons of oil poured into the San Francisco Bay, the Coast Guard reported.

Since the spill, oil has reportedly spread from the bay to waters as far north as Stinson Beach and as far south as Ocean Beach.

The U.S. attorney's office is engaged in a federal criminal investigation regarding the spill's cause, according to the Coast Guard.

The National Transportation Safety Board has also launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, the Coast Guard reported.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said at a news conference Sunday that everything she has heard about the oil spill "indicates that this should not have happened."

Recovery efforts from assisting the bay's wildlife to cleaning the spill from the water are ongoing.

Seven miles of containment boom have been deployed to scoop up the oil and more than 12,000 gallons have been collected, according to the Coast Guard.

In addition, about 4,000 gallons of oil have evaporated, the Coast Guard reported.

Although the sulfur in oil is potentially hazardous to inhale, Bay Area Air Quality Management District Chair Mark Ross said air quality is most likely not threatened by the spill.

"We don't in any way think that air quality will be affected, other than the unsavory odors you will smell in proximity to the oil," Ross said on Thursday.

Permalink

Copyright © 2007 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

####