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Lieber to Introduce Legislation to Require Tugboat Escorts for Hazardous Shipments in California's Harbors

By Frank D. Russo

California Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Sally Lieber has sent a letter to her colleagues indicating she plans to introduce legislation when the legislature reconvenes in January that would require the adoption of regulations for tugboat escorts for vessels carrying hazardous materials within California’s harbors.

Lieber references a bill by Senator Byron Sher in 2004, SB 1480, which would have authorized escorts and which was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. The bill Lieber is introducing would require it.

Governor Schwarzenegger's veto message at that time stated:

"Protecting public safety and the environment from a potential spill of hazardous material is of paramount importance. California must do all it can to minimize the possibility of such a disaster. However, there are neither ship design issues nor a pattern of problems suggesting these vessels need tugboat escorts. In fact, since the creation of the Office of Spill Prevention and Response, there have been no reported harbor accidents involving ships carrying any of these materials.

"The San Francisco Harbor Safety Committee considered the use of tugboat escorts for these types of vessels and concluded that escorts are not necessary, particularly since the US Coast Guard already exercises the authority to require tug escorts for any problem vessel."

Since there now has been a pretty big harbor accident in the San Francisco Bay and it is clear that we cannot rely on the U.S. Coast Guard to require tugboat escorts where we learn the hard way after an accident that a large cargo ship has become a "problem vessel," hopefully the Governor will sign Lieber's bill this time.

It's also not as if we didn't have warning signals of the potential for a spill disaster when this bill was vetoed. The Assembly Committee on Natural Resources Analysis in 2004 noted that:

"In 1995, the Mundogas Europe, a 561-foot Liberian tanker ship containing 36 million pounds of pressurized anhydrous ammonia--a highly toxic chemical used to make fertilizer--lost steering near the Golden Gate Bridge and nearly collided with the bridge's south tower because there were no tugboats nearby to stop it. Had a collision occurred, allowing the anhydrous ammonia to escape and mix with seawater, a major public health and environmental disaster would have occurred in San Francisco.

"In February 2003, a Panamanian ship ran aground carrying 27,000 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, the same chemical used by terrorists to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. The ship sat in the mud near Pittsburg, California for three days.

"Since the 1995 Mundogas Europe incident, the number of chemical ships entering San Francisco Bay has nearly tripled to 171 in 2003 (according to the San Francisco Marine Exchange). In the past nine years, U.S. Coast Guard statistics indicate that there have been at least 23 accidents involving chemical ships in the San Francisco Bay."

Sher's bill was supported by the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, the Planning and Conservation League, Sierra Club California, and the Ocean Conservancy. It was opposed by the California Department of Fish and Game.

Lieber's letter, which asks other legislators if they wish to sign on as co-authors of the bill, states:

"In 2004 I carried, and the Assembly approved, AB 2777, which would have required the Administrator for Oil Spill Response to adopt regulations for tug escorts. Similar legislation was vetoed that same year. This legislation is still needed today.

"Currently, under the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act of 1990 (Chapter 1248, Statutes of 1990), the administrator of the Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response must establish a comprehensive program for the prevention of and response to oil spills in maritime waters.

"Under this law, a tugboat must escort oil tankers and barges in California harbors. However, ships that carry pesticides, solvents, acids, explosives and other hazardous cargoes are exempt from the law. Also exempt from the law are huge cargo ships that can carry upwards of two thousand metric tons of fuel, which equates to more than five hundred thousand gallons. These ships pose serious health and safety threats and should therefore follow the same safety procedures and regulations as oil tankers and barges.

"As was unfortunately demonstrated by the November 14th bunker fuel spill in the San Francisco Bay, our environment and economy can be jeopardized when vessels carrying toxic substances go astray, in this case striking the Bay Bridge and spilling 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the Bay. The use of tug escorts will lessen the likelihood of ships straying from course and causing similar catastrophic events."

Posted on November 17, 2007

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