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California Department Of Fish And Game News

10 May 2012

Owners of Oil Spill Tankship Reach $1.96-million Settlement

Owners of tankship 'Dubai Star' reach settlement in civil suit brought by San Francisco, Oakland Dept. Bay area East Bay beaches and birds took the brunt of the damage, but the Dubai Star spill was also bad news for crab fishers says SF Weekly. The owner and operator of a tanker that spilled oil in the bay has agreed to a $1.96 million settlement with San Francisco, Oakland and the California Department of Fish and Game. The Dubai Star leaked between 400 and 800 gallons of oil into the San Francisco Bay in October 2009 about 2 1/2 miles south of the Bay Bridge. Teresa Drenick, with the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, said…

02 Mar 2012

NOAA Releases Restoration Plan for Cosco Busan Impacts

Final Restoration Plan Completed for Cosco Busan Oil Spill; Projects will Address Impacts from Ship that Struck the Bay Bridge. State and federal trustee agencies have released the Cosco Busan Oil Spill Final Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan. The document summarizes the injuries to wildlife, habitat, and recreational uses from the oil spill that occurred on Nov. 7, 2007. It also describes a number of restoration projects that will be implemented to compensate for injuries from the spill.

24 Oct 2011

No Oil Found on Sunken WWII Wreck

After 11 days of survey and sampling, using both the latest in technology and physical sampling it was determined that no oil remains on the SS Montebello. The on-scene assessment of the sunken World War II tanker S.S. Montebello is nearly complete off the coast of Cambria, CA. The unified command, led by the Coast Guard and California Department of Fish and Game's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, has determined that there is no substantial oil threat from the Montebello to the surrounding waters and shorelines. The S.S. Montebello sank after a Japanese submarine torpedoed the large oil tanker on December 23, 1941. The vessel broke apart landing upright with her bow separated from the majority of the wreckage.

24 Oct 2011

No Oil Found on Sunken WW II Wreck

Physical sampling determined that no oil remains after 70 years. After 11 days of survey and sampling, using both the latest in technology and physical sampling it was determined that no oil remains on the SS Montebello. The on-scene assessment of the sunken World War II tanker S.S. Montebello is nearly complete off the coast of Cambria, CA. The unified command, led by the Coast Guard and California Department of Fish and Game's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, has determined that there is no substantial oil threat from the Montebello to the surrounding waters and shorelines. The S.S. Montebello sank after a Japanese submarine torpedoed the large oil tanker on December 23, 1941. The vessel broke apart landing upright with her bow separated from the majority of the wreckage.

12 Oct 2011

ROV Deployed on WWII Era Wreck

Global Diving and Salvage Inc. has been contracted by the United States Coast Guard to determine if oil is present aboard the sunken ship S.S. Montebello, which sits 900 feet below the ocean surface approximately 6.5 miles off the coast of Cambria, California. The S.S. Montebello sank after a Japanese submarine torpedoed the large oil tanker on December 23, 1941. The vessel broke apart landing upright with her bow separated from the majority of the wreckage. To date, no signs of leakage have been detected, and from previous visual inspections by submarine, the cargo section appears to be intact. The possibility of future oil release has prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to contract Global to determine the integrity of the cargo section and its contents. Coast Guard Capt.

11 Oct 2011

ROV Sent to Determine Oil at 900 Feet

ROV will be used in an attempt to determine if oil is present on sunken WWII tanker. Global Diving and Salvage Inc. has been contracted by the United States Coast Guard to determine if oil is present aboard the sunken ship S.S. Montebello, which sits 900 feet below the ocean surface approximately 6.5 miles off the coast of Cambria, California. The S.S. Montebello sank after a Japanese submarine torpedoed the large oil tanker on December 23, 1941. The vessel broke apart landing upright with her bow separated from the majority of the wreckage. To date, no signs of leakage have been detected, and from previous visual inspections by submarine, the cargo section appears to be intact. The possibility of future oil release has prompted the U.S.

20 Sep 2011

$44 Million Settlement in 2007 San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge Crash and Spill

Oil Spill Proceeds Of Settlement to Fund Projects and Restore Natural Resources Largest Oil Pollution Act Settlement in History of the Law. Federal, state and Bay-area officials announced a comprehensive civil settlement with the owners and operators of the M/V Cosco Busan, resolving all natural resource damages, penalties and response costs that resulted from the ship striking the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 2007, and subsequent oil spill in the San Francisco Bay. The event killed thousands of birds, impacted a significant portion of the Bay’s 2008 herring spawn, spoiled miles of shoreline habitat and closed the bay and area beaches to recreation and fishing. The U.S.

09 Apr 2010

Award to Restore Habitat After 1953 Sinking

State and federal trustees were awarded $16.9m for seven projects to address harm from mysterious oil leaks that killed more than 50,000 California seabirds since 1990. The projects will help species impacted by oil that leaked from the S.S. Jacob Luckenbach. The freighter sank in 1953 about 17 miles southwest of the Golden Gate Bridge, but was not identified as the source of the oil until 2002 after decades of leaking oil, especially during winter storms, causing massive injury to wildlife. “This funding will go a long way to restore California’s seabird populations that were devastated by oil released from the Luckenbach,” said Stephen Edinger, administrator for the California Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response.

20 Jul 2009

Prison Sentence For Cosco Busan Pilot

John Joseph Cota, the pilot who caused the Cosco Busan, a 900-ft long container ship, to collide with the San Francisco Bay Bridge and discharge approximately 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay, was sentenced to serve 10 months in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston for the Northern District of California, the Justice Department announced. Cota, who was a licensed bar pilot at the time of the collision, gave commands that caused the 65,131-ton Hong Kong-registered ship to collide with the bridge on Nov. 7, 2007. Cota was sentenced according to an agreement in which he pleaded guilty to negligently causing discharge of a harmful quantity of oil in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA)…

09 Mar 2009

Guilty Plea in Case of Cosco Busan Ship Pilot

John Joseph Cota, a California ship pilot, pleaded guilty on March 6 to negligently causing the discharge of approximately 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay in violation of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, a law enacted in the wake of the Exxon Valdez disaster. Cota, who piloted the M/V Cosco Busan when it hit the San Francisco Bay Bridge on Nov. 7, 2007, also pleaded guilty to violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for the death of protected migratory birds. If the plea terms are accepted by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston, Cota will be sentenced to serve between two and ten months in prison and be fined between $3,000 to $30,000.

29 Jan 2009

USCG, Commercial Tugs Respond to Tanker

The Coast Guard, along with commercial tug vessels, and the California Department of Fish and Game responded to a vessel, which lost propulsion on Jan. 27, just outside the Golden Gate Bridge. At 5:24 p.m., the Petroleum Oil Tank Ship Overseas Cleliamar lost power shortly after transiting under the Golden Gate Bridge while outbound from San Francisco enroute to its next port of call in Ecuador. Within ten minutes, the crew was able to drop the starboard anchor to stabilize the vessel's position, restored power and backed down under its own power. The vessel had previously discharged its cargo during its port call at Martinez and was carrying no cargo at the time of the incident.

08 Jan 2009

CA Files Suit Against Cosco Busan

California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. filed a lawsuit today on behalf of the California Department of Fish and Game Office of Spill Prevention and Response, State Lands Commission and State Water Boards against the owners, operators and pilot of the M/V Cosco Busan, the shipping vessel that spilled more than 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay. “This was a preventable accident that had tragic consequences,” Attorney General Brown said. On November 7, 2007, the Cosco Busan, piloted by John Cota, hit the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge’s Delta Tower. The crash caused approximately 53,569 of gallons of oil to spew into San Francisco Bay and spread to the Pacific Ocean and along Bay Area shorelines.

11 Jun 2008

Multi-Agency Oil Spill Drill to be Conducted in San Diego

A multi-agency drill simulating a major oil spill off the coast of San Diego is scheduled to be held Wednesday and Thursday at the San Diego Convention Center. The two-day exercise will involve dozens of participating agencies from around the southern area. The drill is designed to test the response capabilities of the agencies and create a decision-making environment for participants. The joint-agency efforts will be monitored and evaluated in order to identify any areas in need of improvement. Some of the organizations involved are Chevron Corporation, Coast Guard Sector , U.S. Navy Region Southwest, San Diego County Office of Emergency Services and the California Department of Fish and Game's Office of Spill Prevention and Response.

14 Nov 2003

Electronic Technologies for Oil Spill Response in the Marine Environment

The California Department of Fish and Game and ChevronTexaco are jointly sponsoring the Electronic Technologies for Oil Spill Response in the Marine Environment Workshop. The workshop will be held on January 13-15, 2004 in San Ramon, CA. Space is limited to the first 100 persons.

02 Aug 2002

Oil Recovery Project Makes Progress

The U.S. Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Office San Francisco Bay, the California Department of Fish and Game Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) and Titan Maritime, Inc. continue their steady progress on the assessment and oil removal operations from the sunken 468 ft. cargo ship S.S. Jacob Luckenbach , which sank 50 years ago, 17 miles West of San Francisco. Despite the challenges and risks involved with the operation, the responders have identified 26 tanks and spaces on the wreck containing about 132,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil. To date, about 12,000 gallons of oil have been recovered. During the assessment, many fuel tanks were found to have badly corroded vent pipes which allowed oil to slowly leak into the cargo holds.

10 Jan 2005

DHS Names Maritime Security Advisory Committee Members

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security today announced the appointment of the following individuals to serve on the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee. "On behalf of Secretary Ridge, I am delighted to welcome these advisors to our team," said Admiral Thomas H. Collins, commandant of the Coast Guard. The advisory committee has been established to provide advice to the Department of Homeland Security via the U.S. Coast Guard on matters such as national maritime security strategy and policy, actions required to meet current and future security threats, international cooperation on security issues, and security concerns of the maritime transportation industry as mandated by the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002. Joseph H. Thomas E. John C.

13 Nov 2007

Oil Spill Update

The Unified Command for the Cosco Busan incident response held a press conference to give updates on the oil spill clean-up efforts. The U.S. Coast Guard, California Department of Fish and Game and the Responsible Party are in full cooperation as the Unified Command and met with San Francisco city officials to discuss concerns related to volunteers and the use of city resources. The following updated information has become available: 73 live, oiled birds are being rehabilitated; there have been 19 confirmed deceased birds reported; 11 skimmers are currently deployed on the water; 10 wildlife recovery teams are on the beaches with additional teams joining Friday afternoon…

03 Feb 2006

Recovery Efforts for Miss Kelley Continue

The U.S. Coast Guard and California Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response recently ceased the pollution response operations onboard the fishing vessel Miss Kelley. Early on January 26, in Fort Bragg, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued two fishermen from the fishing vessel and began pollution response efforts when the vessel stranded on a beach near the Noyo River entrance. Oil-absorbent pads were placed in the fish hold to remove the oil contained in that space and then removed and properly disposed. Further actions to contain and remove the oil were impossible because of the remote location of and high energy surf conditions around the vessel. On January 30, the tanks were sounded again and were found to be empty.

23 Apr 2007

Authorities Investigate Spill in LA Harbor

The U.S. Coast Guard and California Department of Fish and Game, Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) are conducting a joint investigation to determine the cause of an estimated 210 gallon diesel fuel spill into Los Angeles Harbor late Thursday night . Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach received the report of a diesel sheen at berth 240 in the Port of Los Angeles. The Coast Guard immediately responded to the location to conduct an investigation and locate the source of the discharge. The initial investigation did not reveal a source or responsible party. The Coast Guard accessed the Federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and hired Patriot Environmental Services to conduct the $50,000 clean up operation.

26 Apr 2007

San Pedro Fuel Distributor Assumes Responsibility for Harbor Cleanup

The Jankovich Company, a San Pedro, Calif. based fuel and lubricant distributor, assumed financial responsibility of the estimated 210-gallon Los Angeles Harbor fuel spill clean up. The Coast Guard and California Department of Fish and Game, Office of Spill Prevention and Response will continue to monitor recovery operations being conducted by Patriot Environmental Services. The clean up is expected to be completed by Wednesday afternoon. Under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, assuming financial responsibility is not an admission of fault. The actual source and cause of the fuel spill remains under investigation.

30 Apr 2007

Unified Command Formed to Oversee Clean up in Long Beach Harbor

A unified command comprised of representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, California Department of Fish and Game Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) and Paramount Petroleum Corp. was formed to coordinate the recovery and clean up of oil that was released into Long Beach Harbor this morning. An estimated 100-gallons of crude oil was spilled into the water at berth C-55 in the Port of Long Beach. Contractors hired by Paramount Petroleum Corp. have responded and are currently conducting the clean up. Although the source of the original leak is still under investigation, the adjoining storm drain through which the crude oil migrated to the water has been blocked and no additional oil is entering the water. Paramount Petroleum Corp.