Oil Spill Update

We received a range of responses from Monday’s query about the impact on the Bay from last week’s 800-gallon Dubai Star bunker oil spill, which fouled beaches and wildlife in the East Bay:

"You can see the boom designed to protect the area before the bridge in the image — great protection for inland waters and especially those with boats at Aeolian YC," said Carolyn Samit. "I live on Bay Farm Island/Alameda and enjoy the flora and fauna of this area year-round so environmental issues come naturally to me. I think we are really lucky it wasn’t worse. One good thing came from the Cosco Busan disaster: the Bay Area is much better prepared for oil spills then ever before. There was so much political involvement in the Cosco Busan spill, maybe we’ve learned a lesson."

"Watching NPC set booms Friday from the Encinal boat ramp was painful," said Ballena Isle slipholder Ed Skeels. "There was one boat in service to transport booms, one runabout dragging a string of booms, and one moron drifting aimlessly in another larger boat because he couldn’t get the jet drive primed — basically, one boat and a tender to do the work. When the larger boat returned for more booms, the crew had closed up the trailer thinking they were done. ‘Oh, you want more?’ Only one crewmember was timidly trying to light a fire while the other personnel milled about ineffectively. Truly pathetic. They should have been trained, ready and rested for such an event. When they did set booms, it was with gaps, so as not to inconvenience the boaters at the marina. Boats could come and go by wending their way through a maze. If boats can go out, blobs can come in. Not surprisingly, by Sunday they were skimming and picking oil blobs out of the marina along the Ballena Blvd. shoreline. So many people making so much money to stand around in Tyvek suits poking at rocks. It seems like an exercise to maximize profits."

"I left Marina Village at 8 a.m. on Saturday for Redwood City to check out the new Westpoint Harbor," reported Alameda-based Hellmuth Starnitzky of the Hallberg-Rassy 45 Ocean Echo. "There was no oil floating in the Estuary. I left on a rising tide and did not see anything of the spill, nor on the way back to Alameda the next day when it was brilliantly clear and warm, albeit windless north of the San Mateo Bridge."

Do you have photos or a story to share about how the spill or repsonse affected your area, boat or marina? Send it here.