Dubai Star Bunker Oil Spill hits San Francisco Bay , Kills Fish and Birds

A new oil spill on San Francisco Bay this morning has put wildlife spill response teams on high alert. A two-
mile-long slick of bunker fuel now stretches across part of San Francisco Bay after a refueling mishap at 6:48
AM Friday between a tanker and a barge.

The Panamanian tanker, Dubai Star, spilled 400 to 800 gallons of heavy bunker fuel about 2 1/2 miles south of
the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. No birds have been rescued as yet and crews from OWCN/IBRRC have
been mobilized to do search and collection of possible oiled birds and other wildlife. IBRRC is a long-time
member of OWCN and helps manage two wildlife rescue centers in Northern and Southern California.

The last oil spill on San Francisco Bay in November 2007 resulted in thousands of bird deaths from the 50,000
gallon spill that spread throughout the bay with help of strong tides and winds. Beaches were closed in San
Francisco and Marin Counties after the Cosco Busan container ship side-swipped the Bay Bridge in heavy fog.

The San Francisco Dept of Environment and Dept of Public Health have issued the following precautionary
recommendations to the public:

- Avoid Bay water contact and beaches until further notice.

- Do not swim in the Bay.

- For Treasure Island Marina, slipholders are asked to keep their vessels in the marina over the weekend.

- Fishing around Treasure Island, Yerba Buena Island and from the east side of San Francisco Pier 39 to
Candlestick Point is not advisable.

Some of the hundreds of gallons of bunker fuel oil spilled Friday in San Francisco Bay have started washing
onto shore, polluting area beaches and killing dozens of birds.

State regulators suspended fishing and shellfish harvesting in parts of the bay, and officials asked people to
avoid some beaches while mop-up efforts continue today.

Meanwhile, Coast Guard authorities said they would investigate whether any mistakes were made in the initial
response to the spill. Some environmental groups questioned why it took several hours to position containment
booms around the leak and beaches in the spill zone.

"That's what the Coast Guard and Fish and Game are looking at right now ... the timeliness," said Lt. Rob
Roberts of the California Department of Fish and Game.

At 6:48 a.m. Friday, the Panamanian tanker Dubai Star spilled bunker oil into the bay as the ship was being
refueled about 2 1/2 miles south of the Bay Bridge.

The oil sheen quickly covered a miles-long swath of water; however, aerial assessments and measurements of
the tanker's fuel capacity showed only 400 to 800 gallons of bunker fuel had been spilled, officials said
Saturday.
The cause of the spill is still under investigation, but early evidence pointed to mechanical failure.

For watchdogs of the bay's ecosystem and wildlife, the incident brought back memories of the disastrous 2007
Cosco Busan incident, which dumped nearly 60,000 gallons of bunker fuel, killing thousands of birds and
fouling sensitive shorelines. The Coast Guard and other agencies came under attack for the poor communication
and sluggish response to that spill, which occurred two years ago this month.

Response time

It took several hours Friday to deploy booms around the tanker. And at least one environmental group wondered
why responders didn't immediately place a protective boom along Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda -
the spot hardest hit by the spill.

By Saturday, tar balls - some the size of silver dollars and a few as big as seat cushions - had washed up along
shore every 5 to 10 yards.

About 60 oiled birds, about half that had died, were found at that site, according to the East Bay Regional Park
District. The Coast Guard would confirm only the collection of 12 oiled-but-surviving birds.

"It's a natural collection place for oil, and (National Weather Service) trajectories showed that it was going to be
a target," said Deb Self, executive director for San Francisco Baykeeper.

One dead grebe and an oil-soaked gull were found just across the Inner Harbor Channel at Middle Harbor, in
Oakland, according to John Escobar, the assistant general manager of the East Bay Regional Park District.

"We have the beaches closed to provide an onshore refuge for the birds," Escobar said. "Oiled birds need to get
onshore because they lose their insulation."

Herring habitat

Self worried about the oil's impact on eelgrass beds around Alameda, which provide important spawning habitat
for herring. The herring season - the bay's last commercial fishery - was canceled in September because of
concerns about the health of the fish population. Self and others believe the Cosco Busan spill may have played
a large role in killing off herring eggs.

Nevertheless, some observers said it appeared that some of the region's response tactics - specifically
communication among jurisdictions and agencies - had improved since 2007. The effort was also aided by clear
weather and calm winds.

For its part, the Coast Guard and coordinating agencies said they responded with "surgical" precision, limiting
the oil impact to about 6 miles of shoreline.

"I can assure we acted as quickly as possible as soon as we were notified," said Barry McFarland, incident
commander with O'Brien's Group, the firm managing the cleanup on behalf of the Dubai Star.

By Saturday afternoon, the Coast Guard had deployed 22 vessels, one helicopter and teams of wildlife crews to
assess damage along San Francisco and Alameda shorelines. All told, 53,000 feet of containment booms had
been set out around the ship itself as well as important beaches.

In addition to tar balls along Crown Memorial Beach, oil was washing up in the Ballena Isle Marina in
Alameda, Coast Guard officials said.
The California Department of Fish and Game banned shoreline fishing and shellfish harvesting until state health
officials can evaluate any contamination caused by the spill.

Closed areas include the Alameda County shoreline between the Bay Bridge and the San Mateo Bridge. Fishing
should be avoided anywhere there is a visible sheen.

Beach closures

San Francisco officials asked people to refrain from swimming in the bay and stay away from local beaches.
But those warnings didn't keep everyone away.

Shoshanna Tenn, 36, of Oakland, went to Crown Memorial Beach and offered to help, but she was turned away.

"The bay is huge and we all use it, so it is important to keep it clean," Tenn said as she stared out at the booms
laid out in the water protecting the bird sanctuary. "Our kids come to this beach. It's our home."

Kay Bloom, 78, of Alameda, said she didn't see any oil when she walked on the beach that morning, but she is
still upset that a spill could occur less than two years after the Cosco Busan incident.

"I think somebody was careless and not doing their job right," Bloom, a volunteer doing plant restoration work
at the sanctuary. "It's different from the Cosco Busan, but in both cases it's inexcusable."

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