Oil spill damages San Francisco Bay just two years after Cosco Busan

Last Friday, October 30th, the oil tanker Dubai Star spilled an estimated 400-800 gallons of bunker fuel into San Francisco Bay almost two years to the day after the Cosco Busan spilled over 50,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the Bay.  The bunker fuel spread out into a 4 mile long slick and has currently polluted at least six miles of Bay shoreline closing several beaches, killing at least 14 birds and oiling 35 others so far.

In response to the bunker fuel spill, Friends of the Earth renewed our call for a ban on the use of this highly polluting fuel in ships and for mandatory protective measures when ships are fueling in San Francisco Bay.

Friends of the Earth is also working in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed air pollution standards that would likely phase out the use of bunker fuel in ships and reduce harmful pollutants by 80 percent or more by 2030, preventing between 13,000 and 33,000 premature deaths each year.  This recent spill is just another signal that these standards are sorely needed.

Read our press release.
Sign our petition to ban bunker fuel.
Watch our interview with KPIX CBS 5 in San Francisco.