U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today sent a letter to the U.S. Coast Guard voicing her concern that the Coast Guard had inefficiently handled the collision of the container ship, Cosco Busan with the San Francisco Bay Bridge that spilled 58,000 gallons of heavy fuel into the bay last Wednesday. As Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and the Coast Guard, Senator Snowe questioned Commandant Thad W. Allen on recent news accounts that stated the Coast Guard had incorrectly reported the original size of the spill and then delayed reporting the actual size until nearly four hours later.

"The United States Coast Guard serves as our leading Federal agency in handling oil spills occurring in our coastal and offshore waters," said Senator Snowe. "I am deeply concerned about the recent news reports that the Coast Guard had underestimated the severity of the spill and after learning of the spill's true size failed to report that information for more than four hours.

“It is imperative that the Coast Guard clarifies why and how this has happened - that is why I am asking for a detailed assessment the Coast Guard's activities undertaken to date in response to this environmental disaster, both on its own, and in conjunction with other Federal, state, tribal, and non-governmental agencies. It is essential that these questions are answered and that each and every Coast Guard mission – including those in response to environmental disasters - is carried out with the degree of excellence and the rapid response that our nation requires to protect our vital assets."

Included is a text of the letter:

Admiral Thad W. Allen
Commandant, United States Coast Guard
2100 Second Street SW
Washington, DC 20593

Dear Admiral Allen,

Recent press reports have raised concerns about the Coast Guard’s response to the collision of the container ship Cosco Busan with the San Francisco Bay Bridge on November 7, 2007, which resulted in the spill of approximately 58,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil into the Bay. I am deeply concerned about these accounts of possible inefficiencies, confusion, or mistakes made by the Coast Guard that may have exacerbated this environmental disaster.

The Coast Guard serves as the lead Federal agency managing any oil spill incident occurring in U.S. coastal and offshore waters. In this case, it appears initial assessments of the spill grossly underestimated its severity. First reports stated that the ship had leaked approximately 140 gallons of oil, when in reality that figure was over 58,000 gallons. Furthermore, even after the Coast Guard command center realized the magnitude of this error, eight hours after the collision occurred, it allowed another four hours to elapse before communicating this information to the public.

While there was heavy fog in the area at the time of the accident which – combined with damage to the vessel’s internal monitoring equipment – could have hampered assessment of the spill’s magnitude, I do not understand why there was such a significant delay in accurately reporting this incident. The Coast Guard’s Oil Spill Field Operations Guide (ICS-OS-420-1) unequivocally asserts that addressing stakeholder concerns is “critical” to incident response. Why was this critical responsibility neglected for over four hours on the day of the spill? Further, please inform me as to when other agencies working with the Coast Guard to respond to this incident were notified of its full extent. Finally, I would like a detailed explanation of the Coast Guard’s activities undertaken to date in response to this environmental disaster, both on its own, and in conjunction with other Federal, state, tribal, and non-governmental agencies.

As Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and the Coast Guard, I understand the magnitude and scope of the Coast Guard’s many missions, and I want to ensure that each is carried out with the degree of excellence and rapid response required to protect our Nation’s vital assets. I am not convinced that this threshold was met in the execution of your service’s response to this environmental disaster, and therefore I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Olympia J. Snowe