Oil spills

11/02/2009 -- SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking action against the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency following federal violations of the Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

On behalf of the U.S. EPA, the Department of Justice has lodged a proposed consent decree with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the city and county of San Francisco for releasing at least 940 barrels of diesel fuel -- some of which entered into Islais Creek, a tributary of the San Francisco Bay.    » read more »

June 15, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, this evening issued the following statement after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Exxon Mobil Corporation to pay $507.5 million in punitive damages from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil disaster.

In addition, the Court also ordered Exxon Mobil to pay 5.9 percent interest accrued from the 1996 trial judgment:

“I am gratified by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision to award interest to the plaintiffs of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.    » read more »

May 22, 2009 -- IRVING, Texas -- ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) today issued its 2008 Corporate Citizenship Report5 detailing actions to improve environmental, economic and social performance, while providing energy to meet the worlds’ growing demand.

The report details how ExxonMobil reduced greenhouse gas emissions, led the industry in worker safety and oil-spill prevention, and contributed more than eight times its earnings -- a record $402 billion -- to economies around the world through taxes and purchases of goods and services.    » read more »

Oil Spills are a Real, Costly Risk We Face in Light of the Recently Lifted Moratorium

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 24, 2009) – Twenty years after the massive Exxon Valdez oil disaster in Alaska, oil spills still occur and the risk of them happening up and down the East and West Coast has increased after the more than three-decade moratorium on offshore drilling was lifted in the waning months of the Bush Administration.    » read more »

Menendez has led efforts in the Senate to defeat plans that would open up drilling less than 100 miles from New Jersey

May 9, 2008 -- WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John McCain will be in New Jersey for a press conference on the topic of the environment. While he is in the state, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is challenging him to denounce a plan that would open up drilling for oil and natural gas less than 100 miles from the Jersey Shore.    » read more »

Legislation would mandate that the Coast Guard intervene during adverse conditions; Require double hulls for all large cargo ships

April 10, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today introduced legislation to prevent oil spills like the November 2007 Cosco Busan incident, when a 900-foot cargo ship crashed into Bay Bridge and spilled more than 53,000 tons of toxic bunker fuel into the San Francisco Bay.

A sea bird killed by the Cosco Busan oil spill: Photo by Dave Patten (CC)    » read more »

April 10, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – This morning, Speaker Nancy Pelosi participated in a Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation hearing on the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General investigation into the Cosco Busan oil spill. Speaking on the importance of the Bay, Pelosi said: “For our community the San Francisco Bay is a value system as well as an ecosystem.” Pelosi submitted the following statement in the record:    » read more »

MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2008, WASHINGTON — John Joseph Cota, the pilot of the Cosco Busan, the 65,131-ton container ship that collided with the San Francisco Bay Bridge resulting in the discharge of approximately 58,000 gallons of oil, was charged today with violations of the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, announced Ronald J. Tenpas, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division and Joseph P. Russoniello, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California.    » read more »

Defeat of amendment is environmental, economic victory for NJ

March 13, 2008 -- WASHINGTON – Today, during the Senate debate on the nation’s budget, U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Bob Menendez helped beat back a threat to the environment and economy of the Jersey Shore. The New Jersey Senators helped lead the effort to defeat an amendment offered by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) that would have paved the way for drilling off the coast of Virginia, which includes areas less than 100 miles from the Jersey Shore – close enough for spills to affect New Jersey beaches.    » read more »

March 10, 2008 -- (AUGUSTA)— The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is cautioning home owners to check the condition of their outside heating oil tanks following a number of spills statewide. Falling ice from roofs and snow compaction around outdoor heating oil tanks can sever lines and break off filters causing costly spills. A broken off filter or severed fuel line can empty the entire contents of the tank.    » read more »

As Valdez Oil Spill is Considered in Supreme Court, N.J. Sen.'s New Bills Would Modernize Fuel Tanks, Tracking, Help Prevent Spills

March 4, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Frank R, Lautenberg (D-NJ), Chair of the Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, introduced legislation to better protect America’s shores—and its economy—from the deadly and toxic effects of oil spills.    » read more »

Urges Coast Guard to update contingency plan for San Francisco area

February 7, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today called on the Coast Guard to strengthen standards for preparedness and recovery in the wake of the Cosco Busan oil spill. Senator Feinstein urged the Commandant of the Coast Guard to update the prepared contingency plan for the San Francisco area.

Senator Feinstein also urged the Coast Guard to require that all ships carrying a large amount of fuel be double-hulled.    » read more »

January 31, 2008 -- OLYMPIA – Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna announced today that, as a result of outreach by Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler and himself, 32 other states have joined Washington and Maryland in signing an amicus brief in a significant case involving the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The brief, authored by General Gansler’s office, was filed this week in U.S.    » read more »

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - U. S. Coast Guard (USCG), California Department of Fish and Game's (DFG) Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR), and contracted response crews continue to cleanup tar balls and assess beaches from Pacifica to Carmel.

DFG and USCG are responding as a unified command and will continue to evaluate impacts to wildlife and the environment this evening and tomorrow. Cleanup operations will continue tomorrow with six shoreline cleanup and assessment teams (SCAT) and seven 12-person cleanup crews.    » read more »

January 28, 2008 -- Washington, D.C.— House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement in response to today’s release of the Coast Guard’s Incident Specific Preparedness Review assessing their response to November’s oil spill in San Francisco Bay:    » read more »