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Aerial photo
shows sheen of diesel fuel
in Suisun Marsh near Cordelia,
CA. (U.S. Coast Guard photo) |
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| Marsh
madness |
| Pipeline
leaks fuel into Suisun Marsh |
A
pipeline that cuts through
the bird rich Suisun Marsh
near Cordelia, CA, ruptured
Tuesday, April 27, 2004, spilling
an estimated 100,000 gallons
of diesel fuel. The affected
area is 240 acres in size
and located not far from IBBRC's
Northern
California bird center.
So far, a few
live birds have been collected
for treatment and sent to
the Oiled Wildlife Care Network
(OWCN) wildlife hospital.
The diesel fuel
is a deadly brew for the many
ducks, shorebirds and mammals
that live in this rich ecosystem.
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Current
numbers of animals (5/2/04)
14 Live birds
(mallard, bufflehead, goldeneye)
22 Dead birds
(sandpiper, plover, teal duckling)
6 Dead mammals
(beaver, muskrat, mole) |
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Stories on
the web:
OSPR
website updates
San
Francisco Chronicle
Contra
Costa Times
KRON-TV
(story & video)
Fairfield
Daily Republic
|
Pipeline
company fined $5 million:
April 27, 2005 – San Francisco
Chronicle
Spill hits home
Build a center and
they will come
Back
in the late 1990s, Jay Holcomb,
Director, was looking for affordable
land to build a new oiled wildlife
care center. Cordelia, on the edge
of Suisun Marsh, seemed remote,
and 35 miles from IBRRC's Berkeley
center, but affordable. Even though
the main street was Cordelia Road,
and the town consisted of Thompson's
Bar and a Fire Station, it was in
an area expected to grow. And grow
it did. The San Francisco Bay Oiled
Wildlife Care and Education Center,
IBRRC's headquarters, faces Suisun
Marsh on one side, but on the other,
the open fields quickly became new
apartment complexes, subdivisions
and strip malls. And, due to the
growth, a freeway has been proposed,
between IBRRC and the marsh. But
that's another subject.
Suisun Marsh is San
Francisco Bay’s largest marsh,
a tiny remainder of what was once
a vast wetland. It is critical habitat
for migrating waterfowl and home
to threatened and endangered species
of reptiles, fish, mammals and birds.
When you look at the marsh, undisturbed
except for duck clubs and some dirt
roads, you wouldn’t think
there is a pipeline running through
it. Once you knew of the pipeline,
you certainly would hope it would
never rupture. In the late afternoon
of a beautiful, sunny, spring day,
the creatures making their home
in Cordelia Slough, were suddenly
swimming in diesel fuel. A section
of the pipeline, probably old and
corroded, broke, pouring over 60,000
gallons of toxic diesel fuel into
the slough. The pipeline operators
knew something was wrong and shut
off the flow, but they didn’t
report the spill until the afternoon
of the following day.
Still there is much
to be thankful for, one being the
timing. Had the pipe ruptured a
few weeks earlier, before the majority
of migratory waterfowl in the marsh
had returned to their summer breeding
grounds, the death toll could have
been much higher.
Second, the pipeline
carries several different types
of fuel. At the time of the rupture,
the product was refined diesel fuel,
which evaporates, as opposed to
crude oil, which doesn’t.
The affected acres are certainly
impacted by the toxic substance,
but again, it could have been much
worse.
Third, the location
of the ruptured pipeline is approximately
five miles from the 10,000 square
foot state of the art center build
three years earlier for the express
purpose of rehabilitating oiled
wildlife. The animals that survived
long enough to be captured by the
search and rescue teams were only
minutes from a world-class wildlife
hospital and professionals with
many years of experience washing
and rehabilitating oiled wildlife.
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One
of eight Teal ducklings found
covered in diesel during pipeline
break. (Russ Curtis/IBRRC
photo) |
It's difficult to imagine
waking up and smelling the fumes
of an oil spill in your backyard,
or on the beaches of your city.
IBRRC's response team members know
all too well what it's like to walk
an expanse of beach covered with
crude oil and dead and dying birds,
or hold an endangered brown pelican
wrapped in fishing line. But they
also know how to wash oiled birds,
mend the pelican's wounds, and save
injured and orphaned aquatic birds
and waterfowl; and for that we should
be grateful.
Imagine how you can
help IBRRC, because we do need help.
Maybe you can volunteer
in our wildlife hospital, transport
birds from others centers to ours,
or donate something on our
wish list. If you aren't near
either of our centers, you can still
become
a member of IBRRC.
If you cannot personally
help birds directly, help
us to continue to do the work
we have done since 1971. We estimate
we have given a quarter of a million
birds a second chance at life through
either oil spill response or our
wildlife rehabilitation program.
Help us to make it a half a million.
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