I'm sure our Bay Area readers will recall the Nov. 7 oil spill in the San Francisco Bay (it made headlines nationwide!), but for those who haven't heard, here's a synopsis: A Hong Kong-based oil tanker dubbed the Cosco Busan bumped into a tower of the Bay Bridge and came away with a serious gash in its port side, causing 58,000 gallons of crude oil to leak into the Bay. Quite a lot of people were pretty angry, and the spill caused significant damage to both the San Francisco economy and, more importantly, to the Bay ecosystem. So what happened after the dust settled? Click "Read More" below for an update.
Many Bay Area residents and city officials were appalled at the way this incident was handled, especially the clean-up efforts immediately following the spill. A state senate committee last week criticized the responsible government agencies (namely the state Dept. of Fish and Game) for their sluggish efforts (read full article here), and stated that they are looking into the implications of this incident as it relates to future spills. The US government is suing the owners and pilot of the Cosco Busan for the damages incurred by the spill; the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. This comes after several lawsuits from SF fishermen and others who claim economic losses caused by the spill (see full article here). The ban on commercial fishing in the SF Bay has finally been lifted by Gov. Schwarzenegger after studies showed that the spill's dangerous chemical consequences had subsided, but officials from the California Dept. of Fish and Game warn consumers to stay away from some oysters and mussels (read full article here).