Oil Spill Spreads in San Francisco Bay

Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco and other state leaders have expressed concern about the time it took to deliver accurate information about the extent of the spill.

Several state and federal investigations are under way to determine how the ship, the Cosco Busan, hit the Bay Bridge, whether the response was adequate and whether charges should be filed.

The bulk of the criticism has fallen on the Coast Guard, which is leading the cleanup along with the California Department of Fish and Game. The Coast Guard conceded Friday that “mistakes were made,” although agency officials said the errors were in communication, rather than disaster response.

“The response went well. We rolled immediately,” said Captain William Uberti of the Coast Guard. “That’s why we got 8,000 gallons collected in the first day.”

Captain Uberti said the Coast Guard and other response agencies were focused on cleanup within an hour of the accident but had failed to provide city officials with updates, in part to ensure that the numbers about the extent of the spill were accurate.

The O’Brien’s Group, the American emergency response management company overseeing the cleanup for Hanjin Shipping, the South Korean company operating the ship, said the commander of the vessel took quick action and followed federally approved disaster response protocols. The ship was under the temporary command of a San Francisco Bay pilot, Capt. John Cota, at the time of the accident.