Nov 8, 2007 12:50 pm US/Eastern
Massive Oil Spill Coats San Francisco Bay
Container Ship Bumped Bay Bridge, Ripped Hull
Oil Spill Shuts Down 7 Beaches
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) ―
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A Hanjin container ship that struck the Bay Bridge sits idle off of Treasure Island on Nov. 7, 2007.
AP
Coast Guard crews spent the night beginning cleanup of 58,000 gallons of oil that spilled into the San Francisco Bay after a container ship bumped the Bay Bridge on Wednesday.
Crews on boats and in the air were monitoring the advance of the oil spill throughout Bay waters. The slick prompted closures of at least seven beaches in San Francisco and Marin County.
It is the largest oil spill in the Bay in nearly 20 years, reported CBS station KPIX-TV in San Francisco.
A Coast Guard official says there's no estimate of when the oil spill will be cleaned up. Coast Guard pollution and marine inspectors investigated the amount of bulk fuel spilled Wednesday, and an Army Corps of Engineers crew collected large wooden chunks from the bridge fender system that broke off into the water.
At least seven San Francisco beaches were closed because of reports that oil was washing ashore, the Coast Guard said. Signs warned the public not to swim or fish in several areas, and a hot line was set up to take reports of fouled wildlife.
The Hanjin cargo ship was traveling through dense fog on it way to South Korea when it bumped into a tower supporting the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
It appeared not to have structurally damaged the span, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.
Traffic on the bridge was not affected, and the span was intact and safe to cross, authorities said.
After the accident, the ship anchored. The Coast Guard and San Francisco Police Department enforced a 100-foot safety zone around the ship and fuel.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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