Oil spill on aisle Richmond (SF Bay)

[apophenia 181]

There was a small oil spill from the Chevron Richmond Long Wharf this evening. 

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/02/09/richmond-chevron-refinery-oil-spill-prompts-county-alert/

Can anyone here offer additional insight into how the cleanup is likely to play out beyond "it will take a few days"?

 

[Borax Johnson 62]

Easy peasy. There will be protests in Berkeley demanding that we cease using fossil fuels immediately. San Francisco Board of Supervisors will draft a resolution chastising Chevron and increasing the needle exchange program budget by $350,000. Oakland will have a BLM protest and burn down a post office. The EPA (both CA and Federal) will open investigations and promise to have draft finding by 2027. Governor Newsome will hold a press conference and demand that those responsible undergo mandatory sensitivity training on critical race theory.

The Richmond City council will remain largely silent except to consider renaming a number of schools to reflect diversity.

A private contractor will have the spill cleaned up in about 9 hours and come in under budget.

And while all of this is happening another 11,000 people will move out of California.

[SF Woody Sailor 351]

Hang on a second. Before we worry about the oil spill we first need to talk about the word Richmond. The word  comes from the French elements riche ‘rich’, ‘splendid’ + mont ‘hill’. Richmond in North Yorkshire was named after a Richmont in France immediately after the Norman Conquest, and in many if not most cases the English surname can de derived from this place.

So first they need a task force to investigate the colonialism, patriarchy and white privilege behind the name Richmond. This will take several months. Then they will appoint a commission to propose new names based on the Miwok language. This will take several months. Then they will need to raise taxes to pay for all the new signs which will take a few more months.

In a few years the new Miwok overlords might or might not get around to the spill, but in the grand scheme of things it isn't really that important compared to changing the name to something more culturally sensitive.  

[some dude 173]

You forgot about the tar on the dogs' feet at Pt Isabel for a few years. 

[apophenia 181]

Back in the '80s, peeling tar off your feet was a normal end to a day at the beach in SoCal.

[usedtobeoldestsailor 24]

Or you could just hire Justin Trudeau to ramrod the clean up and after all of the above he would promise to have the cleanup completed by the end of 2027.

[nolatom 388]

What kind of oil?  Diesel bunkers, low sulphur diesel, slop tank?  The Coast Guard will investigate, and tell you what you need to do re boom, skimmers, sorbents, unless you've already done this.  If a ship is the spiller, then they are the "responsible party" under OPA 90.  Ditto if the terminal.  100 gallons?  that's about 3 barrels, not a "big" spill unless delicate shoreline or creatures nearby.  Your local DEQ will also attend, or at least be in the reporting loop

They will monitor it after that.  They won't cop an attitude unless you give them one first.  

Yeah, boom, sorbents, vacuum truck for skimmed oil, and a plan for how and how fast cleanup will go.  

Possibly a civil penalty down the line.  Chevron are big boys, they already have this stuff on hand.  They and the Coast Guard are used to each other.

 

Hard to estimate timing.  But if it's contained  by boom and not any shoreline to clean, maybe what, 3-4-days?

That size spill wouldn't make much if any news down here in Louisiana, unless it was right downtown, or birds got oiled. Probably will in SF Bay though.

[Raz'r 3,448]

2 minutes ago, nolatom said:

What kind of oil?  Diesel bunkers, low sulphur diesel, slop tank, The Coast Guard will investigate, and tell you what you need to do re boom, skimmers, sorbents, unless you've already done this.  If a ship is the spiller, then they are the "responsible party" under OPA 90.  Ditto if the terminal.  100 gallons?  that's about 3 barrels, not a "big" spill unless delicate shoreline or creatures nearby

They will monitor it after that.  They won't cop an attitude unless you give them one first.  

Yeah, boom, sorbents, vacuum truck for skimmed oil, and a plan for how and how fast cleanup will go.  

Possibly a civil penalty down the line.  Chevron are big boys, they already have this stuff on hand.  They and the Coast Guard are used to each other.

 

Hard to estimate timing.  But if it's contained  by boom and not any shoreline to clean, maybe what, 3-4-days?

That size spill wouldn't make much if any news down here in Louisiana.  Probably will in SF Bay though.

Looks like a leaking pipe and wasn't all that much, considering. YC brass said minimal impact to our marina.

[nolatom 388]

10 minutes ago, Raz'r said:

Looks like a leaking pipe and wasn't all that much, considering. YC brass said minimal impact to our marina.

Well, if it's 100 gallons as news article said,  may not be a huge event.  If not carried away by tide, then pretty straightforward--boom it, skim and sorbents, get oil off shoreline, there will probably be an outside cleanup company who will carry the ball until they get approval from CG and local environmental types.

Main thing is to notify CG and Locals immediately  Coast Guard can handle bad news, they're in the bad news business.  What will really get you into trouble is if the officials hear about it from someone else, or if you're too economical with the truth (aka "lying").  Non-reporting can bring a criminal charge.  

[Raz'r 3,448]

32 minutes ago, nolatom said:

Well, if it's 100 gallons as news article said,  may not be a huge event.  If not carried away by tide, then pretty straightforward--boom it, skim and sorbents, get oil off shoreline, there will probably be an outside cleanup company who will carry the ball until they get approval from CG and local environmental types.

Main thing is to notify CG and Locals immediately  Coast Guard can handle bad news, they're in the bad news business.  What will really get you into trouble is if the officials hear about it from someone else, or if you're too economical with the truth (aka "lying").  Non-reporting can bring a criminal charge.  

It was one of the pipes on the Chevron long wharf, I assume they notified authorities per the rules.

[nolatom 388]

1 minute ago, Raz'r said:

It was one of the pipes on the Chevron long wharf, I assume they notified authorities per the rules.

well, then it's just cleanup best they can, and get the Coast Guard and whoever else from state or city, to sign off on it, and bless whatever they did to fix the pipe that leaked..  Maybe a civil penalty down the line, under OPA 90.