Oil spills into S.F. Bay south of Bay Bridge

[Kadie]

Oil spills into S.F. Bay south of Bay Bridge
Henry K. Lee, Peter Fimrite,Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writers

Friday, October 30, 2009

(10-30) 10:15 PDT SAN FRANCISCO --

Oil that was being transferred from a barge to an oil tanker spilled into the bay south of the Bay Bridge today, the Coast Guard said.

There is a one-mile sheen on the bay coming from the tanker the Dubai Star and the barge, which are anchored about 2 1/2 miles south of the Bay Bridge, Coast Guard Petty Officer Erik Swanson said.

The spill happened at 6:48 a.m. as the Dubai Star was loading bunker fuel from the barge, Swanson said. He said it was unclear which ship was leaking the oil, how much bunker fuel was in the water and whether the spill had been capped.

"We're not sure exactly what happened," Swanson said. "It's hard to determine how much oil is in the water because a little oil can spread over a large area of water, but this is bunker fuel, which is a little heavier."

A skimmer has been deployed, and 2,500 feet of boom is en route from the National Response Corp., which responds to oil spills, Swanson said.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/30/BA9B1ACTST.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0VRQE5yLv

[Barack_America]

1. Bad week for the Bay area.