California Fines 4 Shipping Firms
The California Air Resources Board has fined four shipping companies a combined $146,719 for failing to switch from dirty diesel “bunker” fuel to cleaner, low-sulfur marine distillate fuel upon entering Regulated California Waters – within 24 nautical miles of the California coast. “State anti-pollution laws require shippers to do their part to protect air quality,” said ARB Enforcement Chief Jim Ryden. “Shippers who comply are helping to protect the health of those who live, work, and go to schools near ports and shipping lanes. Many Californians don’t realize that diesel soot and other pollutants can also travel far inland to impact communities nowhere near the sea.
BBC Arizona Prepared for Decontamination
Response personnel conduct inspections prior to Port Valdez, Alaska, stevedores shifting cargo to facilitate decontamination of the BBC Arizona's deck, June 7-8, 2013. Multiple containers stored on deck, each holding a plastic bladder filled with transformer oil, began leaking during the ship's transit to Valdez. A Unified Command, consisting of the Coast Guard, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, City of Valdez, and Gallagher Marine Systems, LLC, directed containers to be shifted on deck to facilitate removal of bridge parts stored below.