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Six Years After 9/11: Still Not Prepared?
It wasn’t a dirty bomb attack or hijacking, but the federal response to an oil spill in San Francisco Bay yet again begs the question: Six years after the 9/11 attacks, is the U.S. prepared for another big one?
Judging from the lethargic reaction of the Coast Guard and other federal agencies to a 58,000-gallon spill of heavy bunker fuel from the container ship Cosco Busan last Wednesday after it rammed a Bay Bridge tower, the answer is a big fat “no.”
The ship hit the bridge at 8:30 a.m. The Coast Guard, which has been criticized for its cozy relationship with shipping companies despite the dangers of container ships with potentially deadly cargoes, took at face value a report from the ship’s crew that only 140 gallons had spilled.
It wasn’t until 4:49 p.m. that Coast Guard investigators realized the true extent of the spill and not until 9 p.m. that they issued a public advisory about the spill’s magnitude.
By that time, the oil had spread to beaches all along the San Francisco waterfront and was surging out the Golden Gate. In the days that followed, the oil fouled a 40-mile stretch of shoreline, contaminating over 20 beaches in the region, including the pristine Point Reyes National Seashore. Hundreds of birds have been killed or injured.
It is small comfort that the amount the spill was comparatively minor. Some 11 million gallons of crude oil were spilled in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska.
Meanwhile, there also are questions as to whether the slow response was because the Coast Guard has shifted its post-9/11 emphasis more toward port and coastal protection duties at the expense of marine safety and environmental response.
Important equipment used in spill response has aged and routine training drills conducted since the Exxon Valdez disaster have become less frequent.
The Coast Guard’s excuse-making in response to the criticism is not comforting, especially when you substitute oil spill with a phrase like undetonated terrorist bomb.
Rear Admiral Craig Bone acknowledged that word got out to the public too slowly. But he noted that several skimmer boats – crafts that can mop oil off water – were on the spill scene within hours.
Admiral Thad Allen, the Coast Guard commandant, said the delays in reporting the size of the spill were “errors of omission rather than errors of commission.”
The cleanup is expected to take a month or more to complete. The last big spill in the bay – 40,000 gallons of heavy fuel dumped in 1996 by the cargo ship Cape Mohican – took at least two years to mop up.
10 Responses to “Six Years After 9/11: Still Not Prepared?”
“Terorist” bomb?
Let’s not make a big deal about this, and let’s realize we cannot have perfect defenses everywhere. Also, a more interesting threat here would be a hijacked tanker of propane. Beach it at Fisherman’s Wharf or at the Ferry Building or moor it at one of the inner suspension-span Bay Bridge (or one of the Golden Gate) towers and release the propane, then light it.
DLS:
No. Let’s make a very big deal out of this.
Playing mix and match with various Bay Area targets misses the point. The Coast Guard was the first line of defense and blew it.
The Coast Guard was the first line of defense and blew it.
I’d look first and foremost at the crew and company of the vessel and the harbor pilot when placing blame for the spill. As to what is desireable or even expected for the Bay, as this opinion describes, yes, more could have been done. I don’t know how easy it can be in the future to accept and train volunteers in various emergency situations, though.
The irony is that Thad Allen and the Coast Guard were heroes in NO. Now it appears they are the goats on this one. The shipping company and pilot should be held for civil damages on this one.
It is just a slow response to an isolated incident. At least the Terminator didn’t do a “fly over or drive by” yet. Not everyone can be LBJ.
That’s right. It’s nothing that’s truly alarming.
That’s a bit of cynical, real-world evidence. (see above)
Boy, California is not having a good year!
Neither is the envidronment.
Judging from past experience, getting shipping companies to shoulder their part of the cost of cleanup is a long and difficult process, often ending up in court. That shouldn’t be, but is.
Shipping companies also brought us hydrilla and zebra mussels. Invasive species are a bigger problem than one isolated spill. I agree with doma, go after the shippers.
Seriously, some heads need to roll for this one. I understand these ships are huge and difficult to steer but hitting a stationary bridge at the helm of a $50 million ship in decent weather? Then waiting hours to actually find out the extent of the problem? Outrageous on so many levels.
“go after the shippers”
….. but don’t hold your breath while trying to do so.
When businesses stall, government blinks.
All they have to do is claim financial harship, and we can’t have that, now, can we?
With the Coast Guard, the guy in charge came to California right away and did more — choose to sit down with the editorial board of the area’s most noteworthy newspaper and discuss the incident openly.
…”lessons are being learned”…
… “Allen also was forthright” …
(Having Bay Area communities train volunteers themselves is a more grown-up way to handle situations like this than just complain about the federal government.)