Thomko Petro Chemical Blog

Capt. William Uberti, the Coast Guard captain who headed up the response to the San Francisco Bay oil spill is retiring after 29 years of service. A week after the spill, Uberti was replaced as the official in charge, but kept on as the regions sector commander.  

The Coast Guard's response to the oil spill has been widely criticized by state officials, bay fisherman and the general public, after a container ship hit the Bay Bridge in a dense fog. Almost 60,000 gallons of fuel was dumped in the bay, and subsequently spread to other areas.

Many of the area's fishermen complained that they were not allowed to help in the early hours of the spill, and many of them had been trained in oil clean up operations. The Coast Guard rebutted this by saying that the fishermen were not qualified or trained for this type of operations, and therefore they declined their help.

Emergency calls concerning the oil spill have been released, and these calls show that the coast guard refused help from the San Francisco Fire Department, and even downplayed what had happened to other emergency agencies.  

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pressing for an additional investigation of the Nov. 7 oil spill in the San Francisco Bay. She has drafted language for insertion into a budget bill that would force the Department of Homeland Security inspector general to start a new probe.