| Salvage Of Sunken Tug Boat To Take Several Days |
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| Wednesday, 19 August 2009 20:28 | |||
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TREASURE ISLAND, Calif. -- Though the oil sheen in San Francisco Bay from a sunken tug boat off the southeastern coast of Treasure Island has almost entirely contained, salvaging the vessel will take at least a few more days, U.S. Coast Guard officials said Tuesday.
The U.S.S. Wenonah, a vintage U.S. Navy tugboat that was retired in 1974, sank Monday afternoon, causing between 500 and 700 of oil residue to leak into the San Francisco Bay, according to the Coast Guard. About 250 gallons of oily water has been absorbed, said Lt. Cmdr. Gus Bannan, chief of incident management for the San Francisco division. But the 100-foot Wenonah is still resting on the bottom of the Bay near Pier 1 on Treasure Island, submerged except for the top few feet of its mast in 25 feet of water. Bannan said the Coast Guard expects to finish a salvage plan by Wednesday, but it will take at least another 36 hours after that to recover the tugboat. The Coast Guard still doesn't know why the Wenonah sank, and although divers have been investigating it underwater, a final determination can't be made until the boat is salvaged, Bannan said. "It's a pretty heavy boat," said Lt. Rob Roberts of the California Department of Fish and Game. "That's why it's taking so long to come up with an exact salvage plan. We've got several contractors looking at it giving us different options." The Coast Guard must approve any salvage plan, which will likely involve lifting the 300-ton boat using a huge water-based crane. But that can't happen right away. Authorities said they have to make sure the leaking tugboat doesn't spill more oil into the Bay and that no marine life is harmed during the cleanup and salvage operation. Kirsten Olson lives on a sailboat with her family. She said spills happen too often and she worries about the marine life. "I think a lot of it can be prevented," Olson said. "It's carelessness. If something is going to sit for a certain period of time with old fuel in it. It needs to have that fuel pumped out before something like this happens." The Coast Guard said it first learned of the sinking tugboat around 11 Monday morning from a passerby. But Southern California resident Larry Weisenthal -- who was rowing in the area over the weekend -- emailed KTVU photos taken Sunday morning around 10 a.m. of the tug sitting very low in the water. "It looked very precarious. It looked like it was about to sink," said Weisenthal during a phone intereview Tuesday. Weisenthal said the tugboat was out in the open and easily spotted by boaters and that he thought someone would have already notified the Coast Guard. "Right now, I'm very sad that I didn't call the Coast Guard because I'm sure it could have been stabilized. The sinking could have been prevented, as well as the loss of the oil," said Weisenthal. KTVU has learned the cost of the cleanup and salvage of the sunken tugboat could reach a quarter of a million dollars. Bannan said the oil cleanup was paid for with funds from the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. "We have to have the salvage plan approved by the Coast Guard first. And of course then the owners have to approve the cost and will have to come up with some money," said Tim Parker of Parker Diving and Salvage. As of Tuesday afternoon, no adverse environmental effects of the spill had been documented or reported, said Nicholas. He said his department is monitoring local marine life and birds for any signs of distress. The Wenonah is owned by the Historic Tugboat Education and Restoration Society, which leases the space at Pier 1 on Treasure Island. The U.S.S. Wenonah was built in 1940 and spent 33 years in service before it was decommissioned in 1974.
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 01 November 2009 17:04 |
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