Mon | Day 13 Update – Pacifica, Berkeley, Ocean Beach, Marin

Thank you all for your reports.  Keep them coming in, so we can let the official agencies know where to deploy more resources. 

PACIFICA:
Per Greg Cochran of Pedro Point Surf Club on Sunday:

 ”We have had small amounts of oil washing ashore on all of our beaches.  The Pro Cleanup crew cleaned Linda Mar this AM [Sunday]. Very minimal amounts on all beaches. We will continue to clean as need be. Beaches will remain open, as long as we don’t get massive amounts.  All indicators point to continued small amounts coming in with the High Tides. “

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BERKELEY – Volunteers needed
Matter of Trust is sending out more hair mats to Berkeley to get oil off the rocks.  We also had word on Sunday that Berkeley needs more certified volunteers to help with the cleanup of various sites, to supplement the contractor crews’ efforts. 

If you have your card, please call Deborah,  City of Berkeley Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Waterfront  510-703-2825, to be deployed.

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OCEAN BEACH: From OB resident, Ben Garcia: “As per sunday at 10 am there was plenty of small oil blobs seen on ocean beach. i walked a small area between fulton and kirkham and in an hour or less had a fistful of oil.”“There were no clean up crews, just ahandful of both gloved and ungloved volunteers that were hoping to find an organized effort. It seems there is still plenty of oil – the blobs are just a lot smaller and harder to spot.”

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MARIN:

Per D.Harrison on Sunday: 

“I went by Cronkite today at about noon… Spoke with the Park Ranger and Park Police, word in that hood is that the O’Brien crew had been cleaning that AM (with no “need” for volunteers) and were supposed to be back and were 2 hours late… The park ranger called into dispatch for us and tried to get us cleaning access, but no luck; 1st no guide to “supervise”, 2nd no waste designation area… He than said that a small volunteer crew was at Baker cleaning, but I later found out that was mainly an O’brien/Ind. crew…

….Three Surfers in the water at Cron Sunday AM and a hiker on the coast saw a BIG Great White attacking a seal.  [The shark was] finishing the job right in the breakers… so now Cron is closed to swimmers/surfers due to the shark…But again it looks as if that Marin is still seeing fresh deposits on the beaches, Cronkite is 1/2 way open and all water access is closed due to the shark.   At least mother nature is helping us out, the waves by the way at OB today and at cron were BIG…
But there is still a lot of oil landing, half of Cron was open but both Ranger and Police agreed it was too early to open up access and there should be a lot of volunteers combing the water line and high water line… But there are not…

The word from both employees about Marin is “A big lack of thorough cohesive communication; both on a local and state level with the O’Brien/Indep. cleaners.  Multiple agencies having big issues communicating…”

I will go by a couple of beaches in the AM (Muir/Tennessee Valley) but I hope to have word about Bolinas and Stinson tomorrow as well as the others, again if anybody has heard conflicting news, please let us know.  I have heard that oil has even been found in RCA!”

Sun | Day 12 Update

Per KTS, 403 more folks were trained on Saturday!  That brings it to well over 1400 officially trained in San Francisco.   

Ocean Beach opened up yesterday (although posted signs along the beach still say it’s closed)…but we are getting reports from that Ocean Beach may not be clean enough.  It also sounds like there’s still plenty to cleanup in Marin and East Bay.

East Bay needs help with the wildlife spotting effort (see the East Bay postings). 

REPORTS ON CONDITIONS NEEDED:
For those of you living in OB and Marin, we and our readers want to know about the conditions.  Please write in , while our contacts gather more data.  Pacifica’s Shelter Cove reported oil washing up on Saturday…Our job is still not done, since we still expect to see oil residue washing up at anytime, anywhere.  With your help, we can deploy resources where attention is needed, as KTS is working closely with government agencies.

Per the SF Dept of Emergency Management on Saturday evening:

“San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (SFDEM) and National Park Service (NPS) staff announced Friday, November 16, 2007 that the cleanup of local beaches affected by last week’s catastrophic Cosco Busan oil spill was proceeding at a faster than expected pace. Officials credited the accelerated pace to the overwhelming response by members of the public, with more than 1400 volunteers trained to help in the cleanup as of Saturday, November 17, 2007.

 

After Saturday, November 17, 2007, there are no planned deployments for volunteers to participate in beach clean ups related to the Cosco Busan Oil Spill in San Francisco.  In addition, there are no future trainings scheduled.  If there is a need for volunteer deployment in the coming weeks, information will be posted on www.sfgov.org/311.  Please check back regularly for the most up-to-date information or call 3-1-1. 

BEACHES OPENED as of 11.17.07 Morning

• Ft. Point
• Baker Beach
• China Beach
• Crissy Field
• Ocean Beach (Advisory posted)
• Linda Mar Beach (Pacifica)
• Rockaway (Pacifica)
• Sharp Park Beach (Pacifica)
• Esplande Beach (Pacifica)

View closed beaches here:  http://www.coscobusanincident.com/go/site/1641/

Sat 11.17 | Day 11: Pacifica’s Shelter Cove: Oil Found

We received an afternoon call from a Shelter Cove resident whose neighbor found oil washing up on the beach today, Saturday.  We’ve put her in touch with Pacifica contacts, and are waiting for an update. 

Shelter Cove is the private residential area just south of Linda Mar Beach.  -  ZunaSurf

friday evening update

Pacifica beaches opened back up 10am this morning .

The official post from the Dept. of Emergency Management:

11/16/07 Volunteer Update
 
Volunteer Training Opportunities:
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (SFDEM) and National Park Service (NPS) staff announced today that the cleanup of local beaches affected by last week’s catastrophic Cosco Buson oil spill was proceeding at a faster than expected pace. The NPS announced that many San Francisco beaches could be re-opened as early as this weekend. Officials credited the accelerated pace to the overwhelming response by members of the public, with more than 800 volunteers trained to help in the cleanup.
 
A final training at 8:00 a.m. will be offered for volunteers on Saturday November 17, 2007. THERE WILL NOT BE A SECOND TRAINING SESSION AT 1:00 P.M. The training includes mandatory instruction and safety guidelines related to handling hazardous waste materials. Please bring a picture ID to speed the registration process. Snacks and refreshments will be provided. After completing the training, volunteers will be provided a special, event-specific Disaster Service Worker identification badge for the Cosco Busan Oil Spill. Immediately following the training, there will be a final beach cleanup at OceanBeach on Saturday November 17, 2007.
 
Volunteer Training Details
Date: Saturday, November 17, 2007
 
Time: The training session begins at 8:00 a.m. Please arrive promptly for the start of this training class; to receive certification, volunteers must be present for the full training session. THERE WILL NOT BE A SECOND TRAINING SESSION AT 1:00 P.M.
 
Training Session Capacity: 400 participants maximum; first come, first served

Location: County Fair Building, Hall of Flowers
(Lincoln Way & 9th Ave., entrance to Golden Gate Park)
San Francisco, CA 94122
 
MUNI Information to the Hall of Flowers:
44 O’Shaughnessy
N Judah
71 Noriega
43 Masonic
6 Parnassus 

Deployment Site For Volunteers Who Have Attended Training
On November 17, 2007 the City and County of San Francisco will coordinate deployment of volunteers with Cosco Busan Oil Spill disaster service worker ID at the staging area at Ocean Beach. VOUNTEERS WITH EVENT-SPECIFIC DISASTER SERVICE WORKER ID CAN REPORT TO THE RED TENT in the parking lot at Lincoln Way and the Great Highway. This is likely to be the final volunteer opportunity for beach clean up related to the Cosco Busan Oil Spill.
 
Information on future volunteer opportunities related to the Cosco Busan Oil Spill beach clean up will be available by calling 3-1-1 or visiting www.sfgov.org/311. 
 
For information on additional volunteer opportunities to support the oil spill response efforts, please visit www.thevolunteercenter.net.  To make a monetary donation, please visit www.sfgov.org/311.

fri & sat cleanups for certified volunteers

meet at lincoln at ocean beach. check in at d tent. buses will take folks to crissyy, baker or elsewhere

Fri 11.16 – Day 10 – Maverick’s Update

Per Grant Washburn:

“Surfed tonight [thursday 11.15.07] at Maverick’s… it was breaking a little.  There was no fuel on the beach and the area seemed clean.  Several guys thought they smelled the goo, and there were some odd foam formations drifting around.  There were several dead birds and a seal corpse… but they seemed to be the same old stuff, as opposed to something covered in bunker gunk.  Pacifica to Stinson is still locked down.  OB is like a militarized zone.  Doc and a friend were chased by motorcycles when they crossed the police tape.  The stuff is still moving around, so don’t be surprised if it shows up elsewhere this weekend.”

Thu. 11.15. – PACIFICA Beaches May Open Friday

Per Greg Cochran of Pedro Point Surf Club, 6pm:

“I just got off the phone with Supervisor, Jerry Hill (San Mateo County Board of Supervisors). He so graciously called the San Mateo County Director of Environmental Health at home and got this word from the Director, Dean Peterson.  They (County, City, Feds) are going to do one more walkthrough on our beaches at 8AM tomorrow morning (Friday, November 16th).

At that time, if all goes well and there is no evidence of oil, the County will issue a Press Release, opening the beaches by 10AM. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that this happens.

We owe a great big thank you to Supervisor Jerry Hill for making these calls after hours. We also owe a big thank you to our own Councilman Jim Vreeland for working so tirelessly on this issue.  Hope to see you all in the water tomorrow at 10AM. “

Thu 11.15 – CleanUp Schedule for Friday & Official Update

From KTS:   Locations for Friday cleanup should be posted by 7:30am that day on the 311 phone line….

Excerpt from the SF Dept of Emergency Management Email late this afternoon:Volunteer deployment for beach clean-up efforts:

The City and County of San Francisco will continue to coordinate deployment of certified volunteers at the staging area at Lincoln and the Great Highway.  Look for the RED TENT in the parking lot.  Volunteers will be provided with Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), collection tools and be assigned to a trained safety officer.   Employees will lead teams of volunteers in the clean-up effort at Ocean Beach.    ALL CERTIFIED VOLUNTEERS SHOULD REPORT TO THE RED TENT at Lincoln and the Great Highway.  Additional plans for clean-up operations are pending for Crissy Field, Baker Beach, and Aquatic Park but volunteers should continue to report to the main staging area. Transportation from this staging area to the other volunteer clean up sites will be provided.

 For the most updated information on volunteer deployments in San Francisco, please call 3-1-1  or visit www.sfgov.org/311. For information on additional volunteer opportunities to support the oil spill response efforts, please visit www.thevolunteercenter.net. 

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 Summary report from the State Office of Emergency Services:

Reported as of 6:30 pm on November 14, 2007: 14,974 gallons of oil have been collected.  It is estimated that 4,060 gallons of oil have evaporated. One vessel is currently skimming/collecting oil on the water and 25 support vessels and volunteer fishing vessels are working to remediate the spill.  Three helicopters are surveying the area. The US Coast Guard reports that there are currently 1,517 people participating in the spill response. According to the oil and wildlife care network, 804 live birds and 590 dead birds have been received in their facilities. 

San Francisco Update

In San Francisco, we’re supplementing the beach clean-up work of professional contractors with trained volunteers.  We’re proud to report that approximately 800 volunteers have attended trainings and have been issued a disaster service worker badge from the City’s Department of Human Resources.  Since November 12, 2007 [Monday], trained volunteers have been deployed to Ocean Beach, where the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has established a check-in site and provided safety monitors.  Volunteers are assisting with beach clean-up, wildlife and habitat preservation, and other activities related to the oil spill.

Thu.11.15 Pacifica Volunteers’ Snafu Corrected

(6pm) — A Pacifica volunteer wrote in earlier that there was an ID card snafu.  Due to clerical issue,  the Pacifica officials at the training failed to issue the trainees with the necessary ID cards to prove certification had been completed.  She reported she couldn’t participate in the OB clean-up today and was turned away, despite some clearance attempts via phone & fax.

KILL THE SPILL got word and worked with officials quickly.  The Pacifica list will NOW be posted at the Red Tent –Pacifica volunteers just need to show ID at any cleanup.  San Francisco is honoring the training and certified volunteers from the Pacifica session.

Thanks for your patience. Everybody’s working together, and yes, KTS is working tightly with officials.

- Sources:  BCleary/KTS

Thu.11.15 – Recent Beach Photos. More photos wanted.

MAVERICKS 11.15.07

It’s still unclear how much oil, if any, as made it down to Mavericks.  But, one dead bird was found, and another dead one was found in the water.  We’ve heard conflicting reports…

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AQUATIC PARK 11.15.07

The swim clubs in Aquatic Park are very concerned about their swimming area.  Per what some members witnessed this morning, they report that the official contract crews have “…workers engaged in safety activities that don’t seem to comply with the rules as laid out at the training [for citizen volunteers].  They’re removing clothing in the same area they’re working, using their bare hands to do so, etc.”   These members have recently asked Kill The Spill to help get volunteers into the Park to assist with the clean-up effort.

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MUIR BEACH 11.09.07

Early Thursday (Day 2) Photos from Sigward Moser, the man who was arrested and cited for his own cleanup efforts in Muir Beach.

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SITE UPDATES:
Stay tuned for site adjustments like signing up for *Oil Spill-Only *email alerts tied to the frequent postings in this blog. 

More help with the website(s) are needed, given the volume of emails & photos we’re getting.  Interested?  Ping us via the comment button below.  All comments are moderated before getting posted.

PHOTOS NEEDED FOR KILL THE SPILL
Per the EPA on-site at OB today, there is sill “a lot of oil” out at sea.  With the NW winds and NW swell over the next several days, it will likely wash up somewhere.   We need on-site updates and PHOTOS of the conditions up and down the coast.  In particular, we need info/photos from Marin County because they are not doing any clean-up and won’t let us on the beaches.  We will work with the EPA to get access for our army of volunteers to the beaches that need clean-up.   Send updates/photos to:  byron.cleary@killthespill.com.

SURF MAGS WANT YOUR BEST PHOTOS:
Please send Zuna Surf some of your best photos from the last few days, as various surf magazines have contacted us for more pics.  We’d love to see surfers in oily waters, empty waves with “closed” signs or oil globs in them, images of dramatic conditions, powerful shots of the waves + large cleanup crews.  We’ll  then put you in contact with the photo editors.  

- Zuna Surf