Coast Guard: There were boots on the ground after oil spill

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD and ALICIA CHANG

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The leader overseeing a massive oil cleanup along the California coast defended the initial response, saying there were boots on the ground after the spill that stained popular beaches.

The first wave of workers deployed booms in the water to corral the oil slick and placed them along the shoreline to protect ecologically sensitive habitats. Others vacuumed up oil from the site of the underground pipeline that ruptured on May 19, sending up to 101,000 gallons of crude oil down a culvert and onto the beach north of Santa Barbara. An estimated 21,000 gallons escaped into the Pacific and quickly spread.

As more crews arrived the next day, they began raking oily sand and cleaning rocks on the beach — an exercise that continues more than a week after one of the largest coastal oil spills in California in 25 years.

"We had people on the ground on day zero — people who were actually physically doing things to prevent the worsening of the spill," Coast Guard Capt. Jennifer Williams said Friday.

FULL story at link.



FILE - In this May 21, 2015, file photo, an oil-covered bird flaps its wings at Refugio State Beach, north of Goleta, Calif. An underground pipe, owned by Plains All American Pipeline, spewed oil down a culvert and into the Pacific on May 19 before it was shut off. Democratic U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein say the response to the oil spill that blackened beaches and created a 10-square-mile slick on the ocean was "insufficient." and called on federal regulators to provide more details on the activities and decisions by Plains. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fe53d0bcc53f42ba8e37c4943a824466/coast-guard-there-were-boots-ground-after-oil-spill

[hedgehog]

1. How did a story of corporate mismanagement become the Coast Guard's problem?

[Buzz Clik]

5. +1

[SunSeeker]

10. The right wing are already spreading disinformation that the feds owned the pipeline.

A tea bagger I spoke with last night insisted on it, and said the spill was an example of federal incompetence and why government should never run anything. I told him Plains owned the pipeline. He said that's not what he’s heard. He of course only watches Fox and right wing blogs.

[jmowreader]

11. Because ALL hazardous materials spills are the Coast Guard's problem

The USCG runs the National Response Center, the agency that manages all reportable hazardous materials releases anywhere in the US.

[jwirr]

2. This not what the people who were on the beach cleaning up that first day said when interviewed

by Rachel. When they realized that nothing was being done they organized a clean up on their own. Is it possible that the CG could have been cleaning in another area?

[Divernan]

3. Volunteers w/no protective gear were the only boots on the ground I saw

Last edited Sat May 30, 2015, 02:29 PM - Edit history (1)

in photos of the event. Guys in t- shirts, cutoff pants, no gloves, no face masks, standing ankle deep in oily muck. I saw one volunteer with rubberized boots & permeable gloves.

Emergency responders' training should include keeping well-meaning volunteers from exposing themselves to toxic fumes & liquids.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — On the afternoon of the largest coastal oil spill in California in 25 years, graduate student Natalie Phares quickly organized a volunteer bucket brigade to clean a beach north of Santa Barbara.

Seven hours after the discovery of the spill, she was surprised to find her small crew alone on the sand a half-mile east of Refugio State Beach, where the spill occurred. Aside from a couple boats skimming oil from the surface, she didn't see any other cleanup effort.

Rancher Mark Tautrim headed to the beach about 1 mile east of the pipeline break after learning of the spill and was relieved to encounter an unspoiled stretch of surf and sand. But that would soon turn to disappointment — several hours later he returned to the same spot to find what he called "globs and globs of oil."

The following day, Tautrim saw people trying to mop up the beach without protective gear — some were in shorts and flip-flops. He didn't see professional cleanup crews until two to three days after the spill. "I believe it could have been quicker, but that is me from the outside looking in," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/response-operator-broken-oil-pipeline-faces-scrutiny-103021451.html;_ylt=A0LEV7kewmlVvl0AZ44nnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--

[jwirr]

4. Yes, that is what I saw also. That being said - the CG was not on call for this company. The big

question is where were their workers?

[rwsanders]

6. Part of the problem is the way the laws are written...

They require only a minimal amount of response capability be on hand within 1 hour, then they are allowed up to 12 and then 24 hours to bring in enough response equipment to handle a larger spill. So the answer is that they probably were cleaning somewhere else, while a large number would have been setting up communications and a command center.
The problem is that even the 1 hour envelope for initial response can be too long. Many of the currents there in CA can run up to 3 or more miles per hour. So by the time the first responders are there, the oil has already moved 3 miles. Much further than the initial responders can cover, so they can only control the source and the rest gets cleaned later.
This is because the companies don't have to maintain their own resources, but are allowed to hire Oil Spill Response Organizations to meet their requirements for equipment. These companies then keep workers on-call for larger spills and only have a few that are there full time.
I often think that OPA-90 should be amended to call for permanent full time workers that could then be used for cleaning plastic and trash off of roads, beaches, and streams when they are not needed for spills.
I have fairly extensive experience with spills in general and CA response, so if you have questions let me know. I was in the USCG district office for spill response for 4 years and then 3 years in a field office in Mobile, AL.

[jwirr]

7. Very good information. And your solution is reasonable. These spills as we are seeing all around the

world do not get cleaned up easily for years. A full time crew is definitely needed. Thank you.

[BeanMusical]

8. That is so depressing.

[PatrynXX]

9. yeah and I'm Arnold Palmer

didn't see any and if there were why didn't you stop actual citizens from handling with their open skin the actual oil? as much as I care for the environment 1. I wouldn't let children clean it up 2.if your older thats a plus. as many of the 70 + in Japan volunteered for the Fukashima disaster . but still no protection?? again BS up above..