November 14, 2007 - Contact: Tracy Fairchild, (916) 651-4003

Employees of Contracted Oil Spill Clean-up Company Say Marine Spill Response Corporation's "Response" Was Crippled by Mismanagement and Short-staffing

SAN FRANCISCO--State Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco/North Bay) and State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) have received confidential information from employees of the firm in charge of cleaning up the San Francisco Bay oil spill, claiming that their company failed to hire enough staff who could respond quickly to last week's spill.

Employees of the Marine Spill Response Corporation, the private firm contracted to clean up the spill, allege that staff and resources cutbacks delayed a rapid response to the oil spill; a delay that exacerbated the damage caused by the oil spill as the powerful tides and strong currents of the San Francisco Bay pushed the fuel to Marin County and Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

"These employees are telling us that a quick response from sufficient numbers of Marine Spill Response Corporation's trained staff is what is supposed to happen under the company's agreements with both state and federal agencies, but the company's short staffing in the Bay Area made that impossible," said Migden. "It's essential that investigators meet with these employees immediately to evaluate the veracity of their report."

"The Bay Area must be prepared for environmental disasters," said Assemblywoman Ma. "Poor planning and short staffing will cost taxpayers more in the long run."

Employees of the Marine Spill Response Corporation say their company's "cascading" system depleted staff levels that were on hand when the emergency happened. The company relied instead on flying and driving other employees to the Bay Area after losing critical time when the spill could have been more easily contained immediately after the incident.

"The employees are saying it was a case of "too little and too late," said Migden.

Below is a copy of the letter received by Migden and Ma from MSRC employees:

November 13, 2007 - Dear members of the Legislature:

We are employees of the Marine Spill Response Corporation who are extremely concerned about the oil spill last week in San Francisco Bay. Right now we're doing everything we can to help with the clean-up.

We're putting in long hours and working hard, so we can't attend any public hearings at this time. But we would like to share some concerns about the clean-up operation, and we want the public to know the truth behind some of the claims that have been made by both industry and public officials.

Contrary to what you've been told, there were not enough dedicated, qualified responders in the Bay Area available to help with the clean-up and recovery efforts immediately following the incident when we had the best chance of containing the spill and recovering the oil.
The failure to have enough qualified responders stationed in the Bay Area at the time of the spill means that most of the oil was already dispersed over a large area before enough trained, dedicated responders were assembled and operating equipment. Rapid response to an oil spill is especially critical in San Francisco Bay because powerful tides and strong currents make it absolutely essential to respond very quickly with sufficient staff and resources.

The truth is that industry officials have been understaffing their dedicated spill response operations in the Bay Area and elsewhere - because there are no rules to prevent them from doing so. Officials defend their irresponsible staffing levels by claiming that they use a "cascading system" to shift resources when an emergency strikes. But the fact is that "cascading" resources only works beyond a certain point, to supplement sufficient resources when a disaster happens.
Until now, the number of dedicated responders has been insufficient. As a result, we lost precious time during the early and most important phase of the clean-up. Cascading on top of insufficient staffing means that we aren't fully operational for at least 12 and often 24 hours after a major spill - allowing the critical clean up window to close before we have enough dedicated staff to respond.

Imagine what would happen if we staffed fire departments or ambulances in the same manner. It's one thing to ask other professionals for help during a major crisis - but it's a completely different matter when you start with inadequate staffing. If we've learned anything over the past forty years about responding to oil spills, it is the need to respond quickly with highly trained professionals who can operate best equipment under adverse conditions. Providing anything less is irresponsible and misleading to the public.

Finally, we want to remind you that MSRC and similar organizations are really creatures of the oil industry and giant shipping companies.
That's where most of their funding comes from, and that's who calls the shots. The oil and shipping companies have plenty of money to pay for more dedicated response staff in the Bay Area and elsewhere, and they can afford to provide better pay and benefits to reduce the turnover and increase our professionalism. Holding the oil and shipping companies accountable to the public is difficult - but it has to be done if we expect a better response when the next disaster happens. We consider ourselves professionals. We're proud of the work we do, but we need your help - and more dedicated staff - so we can do the best job of serving the public and protecting the environment.

Sincerely, MSRC employees.

Tracy Fairchild

Communications Director

Office of Senator Carole Migden

(916) 651-4003

tracy.fairchild@sen.ca.gov