While San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom stepped up, others ducked. The lapse of time between the Cosco Busan oil spill being declared a “42 gallon spill” and a “58,000 gallon spill” isn’t the only timeline scandal. I was at the joint command press conference later in the day where the fact it took 26 hours from the time of the collision until the Captain was tested for alcohol kept coming up. The snickers from the press (which included 18 TV cameras) made it clear that “he had left the ship” was an answer that begs many, many questions.
The press conference was at Fort Mason, following it I walked the two mile stretch of the Embarcadero down to where I took the first shots of it hitting SF yesterday. Everywhere, you could see it in the water. Accountability time.
Updated with more pics
So after hearing the news that a container ship ran into the Bay Bridge, I figured I’d go see if there was any visible damage. So on the way home from a meeting, I walked out Pier 7 in San Francisco. I was shocked at what I saw when I looked over the sides of the pier. Here are exclusive photos (sorry about quality, shot from my iPhone).
The story linked above said:
Coast Guard officials said fuel leaked from the gash at the port side of the bow for about half an hour before the Cosco Busan’s crew managed to close off the damaged tank and transfer fuel to another part of the ship.
Rob Roberts, a lieutenant with the state Department of Fish and Game, said the 140 gallons of fuel that spilled from the ship will take about a month to clean up. By midday, some fuel had already reached Pier One in San Francisco.
He said the spill is “something we’re worried about. . . . One hundred-forty gallons is 140 gallons too much.” He said private companies hired by the ship owner will perform the cleanup.
More pics after the jump.
More from three hours later…
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