Bay Area beaches reopen, fishing restrictions may be lifted soon
Federal, state and local officials in charge of the cleanup credited the huge outpouring of volunteers Saturday, hundreds of whom combed the sand with plastic forks and buckets, removing dime-size globs of tar. But with the beaches reopening, most of the remaining cleanup will now be left to professionals. And one state official gave the ultimate blessing to the bay and ocean. "If it was warmer I wouldn't hesitate to go in the water," said Steve Edinger, assistant chief of the California Department of Fish and Game. "We believe it is safe." Not that a brief Saturday perusal of local waters turned up any hardy swimmers. Meanwhile, as a precursor to possibly reopening the bay and coast to commercial fishing, biologists are testing fish and crab for contaminants up to 3 miles from the coastline, Edinger said. The project, which is a joint effort with the California Environmental Protection Agency, involves catching herring, perch, rock and Dungeness crab, and mussels. "We're testing within state territorial waters," Edinger said. "We'll bring the samples back to the lab on Monday. We don't expect to have the results for eight to 10 days." Once those results are in, he said, a decision will be made on whether to allow commercial fishing. "We do not believe there is an impact on the seafood outside of 3 miles." Recreational boaters are expected to return to the bay in greater numbers this week as the water clears. Coast Guard officials said they are developing a system to clean boat hulls, but haven't finalized it yet. Eventually, the cost for cleaning all those hulls will be borne by the owners of the ship that hit the Bay Bridge Nov. 7, spilling 58,000 gallons of fuel oil into the bay. In San Francisco, National Park Service officials reopened China Beach, Baker Beach, Crissy Field, Fort Funston and Ocean Beach north of Golden Gate Park, and hope to open Muir Beach and Stinson Beach in Marin today. But the cleanup is far from over. Twenty-one miles of East Bay Regional Park District shoreline, from Alameda to Richmond, remained closed Saturday. Professionals spent the day scrubbing oil off rocks while volunteers fanned out across beaches and moved rocks, wood and debris above the high-tide mark in anticipation of next week's unusually high tides. "It's looking pretty good but we're still finding oil," said Nigel Harold, park supervisor at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland. "Things are looking cleaner but we'll have to wait and see." The National Park Service might close San Francisco beaches again, depending on what the wind and tides deliver to the shoreline over the next few weeks, said Golden Gate National Recreation Area spokesman Rich Weideman. "Even if there's no oil on the surface of the beach, sand moves around a lot," he said. "You may not see it, but it still could be there, especially as the tide changes." Officials are warning beach users to check their shoes and pets for the sticky, toxic sludge, which can be deadly if ingested. As for the shoreline cleanup operation, Edinger of the Fish and Game department said the hard work begins now on the rocky shorelines of the East Bay and Marin, the salt marshes in Richmond and other hard-to-access places like Angel Island and Brooks Island, near the Carquinez Bridge. "There are marshes all around the bay that do need additional work and that's where we are starting to get to," Edinger said. "One of the things we're worried about is next week we have a series of high tides and they could refloat oil that we haven't gotten to yet." Barry McFarland, the incident commander for the O'Brien's Group, which is managing the cleanup for the shipping line, said the salt marshes are "a priority," but the bay is clear and all the skimming boats are docked and being decontaminated. "The water recovery has been completed," he said. "These vessels are being cleaned and are waiting reassignment. If we find more oil, they will be redeployed." At Ocean Beach on Saturday, the scene was busy but festive as about 300 volunteers, some coming directly from the mandatory toxicology training, donned white hazmat suits and spread out along the shore. At the command center, workers listened to music, huddled by the portable heaters and enjoyed gourmet lunches. "They don't want to leave once they get here," said Tommy Moala, assistant general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which was overseeing the volunteer effort. "They're having fun, but also because it takes so long to get the gear off." Surfer Spencer Tillim and his friend Steven Harmon, both from Redwood City, said they felt personally compelled to volunteer. "I use the ocean and I figured this was the best thing I could do to pay it back," said Tillim, a software salesman. "It makes me upset, but at the same time everyone's pulling together, which is a good thing." The scene was even more festive at the newly reopened Baker Beach, where dog walkers, sightseers and children returned to the dunes after a final sweep by hazmat crews who scoured the sand for tidbits of oil. Timothy Ferdon returned for the first time since the oil spill and kicked a ball with his 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter. "The opening of the beach coincided with Saturday and the children's soccer season was over so it worked out," said Ferdon, 48, who lives in the Richmond District and grew up next to the beach. "I've been following it and I was concerned. But they seem to have it under control, at least here." "I can't wait till the oil is gone" everywhere, said John Ferdon, 12. Howard Levitt, who is normally the chief of education and interpretation for the National Park Service but was supervising the cleanup workers at Crissy Field Saturday, said his spirits have been raised by the volunteer effort. "The outpouring of volunteer enthusiasm has been remarkable," Levitt said. "Sometimes it takes disasters to bring out the best in people and this certainly has. It also demonstrates people's love for the bay, the beaches and the wildlife that uses the ban and the Pacific Ocean." E-mail the writers at pfimrite@sfchronicle.com and carolynjones@sfchronicle.com. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/18/MNQ3TENG3.DTL This article appeared on page A - 13 of the San Francisco Chronicle |
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