SurfPulse » Cosco Busan

Help Stop Off Shore Oil Drilling on Wednesday & Thursday, April 15 & 16, 2009

adam — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:02:06 +0000

The painful memory that the Cosco Busan spill should still be fresh in everyone’s head, so come on out and support the cause TODAY & TOMORROW to say no to off shore drilling.

Event: Pre-Hearing Event & Creation of Rally Materials
Date: April 15th
Time: 6PM to 9PM
Location: Sports Basement Bryant (610 Old Mason St San Francisco, CA 94129 (415) 437-0100)

Info: Bring your own T shirt to screen print the pre-designed “no oil drilling message”. We have another organization (San Franpsycho) that will be on site to do the live screen printing. Sports Basement is saving their boxes/big paper products so that we can apply stencil art to them to use for the rally. Individuals are also encouraged to please bring boxes or paper products we can apply stencil art to.
Who: Local SF Chapter members and many other organizations joining in on these efforts in preparation of rally materials. Could be heavy media coverage at this event.
Misc: There will be food, beer & wine. All purchases in Sports Basement will be 15% off during this event.

Next Event: Off Shore Oil Drilling Hearing with Ken Salazar
Date: April 16th
Times:
8AM – Doors to hearing opens
9AM – Hearing begins
Noon – Rally with hundreds of local and national activists to send a clear message that oil drilling is not an alternative. Activities include live music, speakers, live t shirt screen printing, food,etc. If you can only make it for an hour, come to this.

Location: University of California, San Francisco
Mission Bay Conference Center
Robertson Auditorium
1675 Owens Street
San Francisco, CA

Info: Show up with any kind of sign or message you can bring to this event to send a clear message that this is not the solution. If you had to pick a time of day to show noon-time rally would be the best time to show up and voice your opinion!

http://killthedrill.blogspot.com/

http://oilonthebeach.blogspot.com/

Oil Spill Cleanup at Ocean Beach on Thursday, November 22, 2007

matt — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 23:22:18 +0000

With the high tide (and high surf) arriving on Thurs., Nov. 22nd, tar balls and minor amounts of oil from the Cosco Busan oil spill are expected to be deposited on Ocean Beach.

Therefore, the City and County of San Francisco, together with the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Park Service, will coordinate a volunteer beach cleanup to sweep the area for newly deposited oil spill debris. This opportunity is only open to volunteers who have attended training and received a Cosco Busan Disaster Service Worker Identification Card.

Date: Thursday, November 22nd

Time: 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.

Locations: Volunteers should report to either of the two locations listed below (Fire Trucks will mark the staging areas):
1. Lincoln Way and Ocean Beach Parking Area
2. Sloat Blvd and Ocean Beach Parking Area

Details: Only volunteers with a Cosco Busan Disaster Service Worker Identification Card will be permitted to participate in this beach cleanup activity. Since the amount of debris is likely to be minor, there are no plans to close the beach or to deploy volunteers in full personal protective gear. Volunteers will be provided with the amount of protective equipment necessary in relation to the amount of debris. Volunteers will be provided with gloves, booties, scoops, hair mats and buckets. Lunch will not be provided at this deployment.

If there is a need for additional volunteer deployment in the coming weeks, information will be posted on the 311 website, www.sfgov.org/311.

Please check their website regularly for the most up to date information or call 3-1-1.

For information on volunteer opportunities other than beach cleanups, please visit www.thevolunteercenter.net. To make a monetary donation to agencies working on Oil Spill related response, please visit www.sfgov.org/311.

Beaches are currently open throughout the Bay Area, but please use cautionary judgement when entering the water or playing on the shores, and report any oil or oiled wildlife to the following numbers:

Oil slick: 415-398-9617

Wildlife: 415-701-2311

Oil Spill Cleanup Trainings in Half Moon Bay on Thursday, November 15 and Saturday, November 17, 2007

matt — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:22:18 +0000

The Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce has announced these training sessions for volunteers who want to assist in the cleanup of oil contaminants on local beaches.

Volunteers trained may go to other counties to clean beaches. You MUST be certified in order to legally (and safely) be able to help with the cleanup. The oil is making its way down the coast, and there are already reports of oil being in HMB area.

The next “Oil Spill Operations Training” for volunteers are:

Today, Thursday, November 15 from 5:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. at the IDES Hall, 735 Main St., Half Moon Bay.
Saturday, November 17 from 8:00 A.M.-12:00 noon at the Train Depot, 110 Higgins Canyon Rd., Half Moon Bay
Saturday, November 17 from 1:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M. at the Train Depot, 110 Higgins Canyon Rd., Half Moon Bay

Phone (650) 726-8288 (HMB Police Dept.) for more information.

Beach Oil Cleanup Update and Volunteer Opportunities on Tuesday, November 13, 2007

admin — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:22:17 +0000

Thank you to Monica at ZunaSurf for the continual updates!

Reports are that Ocean Beach is looking better (at least before high tide), but that oil has been spotted on Pacifica beaches (Esplanade and Sharp Park). We again strongly advise against surfing until water quality tests have been conducted and reported.

WED. EVENING 11/14 VOLUNTEER TRAINING, San Francisco
*Updated time/location*
Disaster Service Worker Volunteer Certification
WHERE: County Fair Building – 9th & Lincoln in Golden Gate Park (next to the arboretum).
WHEN: 6pm-10pm (not 1pm-6pm)DIRECTIONS: http://www.gltf.org/directions/ggp-countyfair-directions.html

Join the EPA, Kill the Spill, and the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management.
The training from this class (which is a condensed version of the normal 25-hour HazMat training) will allow all to help/volunteer to clean Ocean Beach and/or your local beach or beach of choice legally and with a special badge. Supplies provided.
You are not allowed on the beaches without certification.
Spread the Word! We are not sure when the next training wil be, if any.

New Oil Spill Contact Numbers Per the EPA 11.12.07
Request Hazardous Materials Pickup: 907-632-1006This is a contractor direct number for collected bags of oil residue**except for Taraval & Rivera bags — this pile will go formyco-remediation treatment.

Report oil sightings in the bay: 415-398-9617

Report oiled wildlife: 415-701-2311

BOLINAS STATUS
Per Natalie Pepper, much washed up yesterdy. Today, some of it is verythin and hard to pick up.
Contact People’s Store for more info or you can contact her(415.302.7712) to help out.
Or post on the Bolinas area at our oil blog at zunasurf.wordpress.com.

Community effort and outrage led to government response. Thank you all!

Beach Cleanup Efforts in San Francisco on Saturday, November 10, 2007

admin — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 23:22:16 +0000

On Sat., Nov. 10th, Surfrider SF chapter has a scheduled beach cleanup at Ocean Beach from 10 A.M. until noon, but obviously, due to the oil spill, there is a much more far-ranging effort to clean up the beach.

Grassroots reports are that very little government assistance has yet been provided to clean up Ocean Beach, and it is community volunteers taking it upon themselves to get the job done.

The main grassroots group is Kill the Spill: http://sfoilspill.blogspot.com.

SurfPulse is not involved in organizing any volunteers and warns that any help you provide is at your own risk. Volunteers at Ocean Beach are reporting health problems: difficulty breathing, burning eyes, sore throats, headaches and dizziness. This is very nasty, toxic stuff that is on the beaches. SurfPulse is providing this information solely as a service to the community.

You can help!

8:00 A.M.–Meet at Great Highway and Noriega.

10:00 A.M.–Meet at Great Highway and Taraval.

Noon to dusk: Meet at Great Highway and Judah.

From one of our readers:
Surfers can DEFINITELY help–there is so much oil on Ocean Beach right now, it is going to take thousands of people, thousands of hours to clean it all up. I just spent 5 hours picking up globs of oil and believe me, the public is needed here. Make no mistake, once you get out here you will realize this an an environmental catastrophe right before our eyes right in our home break. The sooner the oil gets off the beach, the less gets washed back into the ocean and the sooner this will get better. As it is, it’s going to be weeks before anyone can surf out here. So please send a message to surfers to come and help clean up our beloved beach. Here’s how to do it:
1. Wear old clothes and shoes–they will get oil on them and most likely be ruined.
2. Get some latex (i.e., doctor’s) gloves or heavy duty dishwashing rubber gloves.3. Get a trash bag or, even better, put a trash bag inside of a 5 gallon bucket.
4. Go to the beach and pick up the globs of oil. The globs range in size from smaller than a dime to as big as a jellyfish. The best time to pick them up is when the globs are lying on the wet smooth sand so you can skim the globs together and, because the sand is wet, it doesn’t stick to the oil. So this means the best time is medium high tide dropping through low tide through about medium tide. However, if you can’t make it then, just go any time as the magnitude of this problem is HUGE and there has been a very limited response so far. Thanks for your help in getting out the message.

Other activists recommend bringing a kitty litter scooper to pick up the globs of oil. Bring as many kitty litter scoopers as possible!

DO NOT PICK UP BIRDS OR OTHER ANIMALS COATED WITH OIL!!
BRING A FULLY CHARGED CELL PHONE TO THE BEACH WITH THE FOLLOWING PHONE NUMBER ENTERED : IF ANIMALS IN TROUBLE SPOTTED, CALL 877.823.6926

Oil Spill is at Ocean Beach on Thursday, November 8, 2007

matt — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 23:22:18 +0000

SurfPulse has received a report of the oil spill that occurred on Wed., Nov. 7th fouling Ocean Beach and causing breathing problems for surfers. Oil has been reported at Stinson Beach in Marin County, as well.

DO NOT SURF IN SAN FRANCISCO OR PORTIONS OF MARIN COUNTY AT THIS TIME!!

Surfers who paddled out at Ocean Beach Thursday afternoon reported globs of oil/tar in the water, coating their boards and wetsuits. They also reported breathing difficulties. State/Federal officials had yet to close the beach or post warnings.

SurfPulse strongly recommends staying out of the water at San Francisco surf breaks until further notice by the state or federal government.

With any upcoming swell this weekend, think road trip down south. Please check with local news services or Surfrider San Francisco for possible volunteer cleanup opportunities.