Bay oil spill: OSPR director on hot seat

Nannette Miranda
KGO ABC7 San Francisco
12/01/2007

SAN FRANCISCO -- "Every time we're supposed to have an emergency response system, it doesn't work," said state Senator Carole Migden, D-San Francisco.

From the get go, the director of the state Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) was on the hot seat.

"It is the mandate of OSPR to be ready to respond to any and all emergencies," said state Senator Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.

Lawmakers question whether the state was really ready to respond to that 58,000 gallon oil spill three weeks ago in the San Francisco Bay when the Cosco Busan ran into the Bay Bridge. A special per-barrel tax on oil to boost staffing has not been spent since 2005. In fact, $18 million is just sitting unspent, while 18 jobs remain open.

Some of OSPR workers who were hired actually aren't assigned to spill-related duties.

"We've been incorporating technology to redirect staff to the field and things like that, that have not been done," said Lisa Curtis, the director of OSPR.

"The spill fund is for personnel to prevent and protect," said Senator Migden.

Critics say the understaffing of OSPR forced the state to turn to contractors for some response help.

"Perhaps the result has been an over-reliance on private companies," said Linda Sheehan of the California CoastKeepers Alliance.

When it was clear the oil spill drifted under the Golden Gate Bridge, lawmakers wanted to know why OSPR took so long to get to Bolinas, where citizens tried to put out a boom themselves to protect the lagoon.

In a testy exchange between Curtis and lawmakers, the OSPR director said, "I stopped reading the paper on day two, to be honest with you."

To which Senator Migden replied, "I tell you what, you're immersed in it -- the person running it. I want you reading the papers every day."

State Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter rolled his eyes at Curtis' response when asked if the OSPR ever conducted a drill in Bolinas prior to the spill.

"I can't answer that question right now. I don't know," said Curtis.

Curtis later said, "I acknowledge whole-heartedly, like we do with every incident, that there are lessons to learn."