Government leaders concerned about San Francisco Bay’s vulnerability
Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor -- Logistics Management, 11/21/2007
SAN FRANCISCO—After a half-day House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation hearing on the Cosco Busan “incident,” legislators are now more concerned than ever about a deliberate attack using containerized vessels in the future.
As previously reported in LM, the vessel left the Port of Oakland with “low-value” cargo headed for Pusan, South Korea when the accident occurred early on the morning of Nov. 7.
Immediately after the vessel struck the San Francisco Bay Bridge, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, was quick to praise the response, but now that the full damage to the environment has been determined, she was highly critical of the U.S. Coast Guard. Pelosi was particularly incensed by what she perceived as a lack of adequate safeguards.
“What would happen if terrorists decided to try something like this?” she asked. “That is why DHS (Department of Homeland Security) should get involved.”
The congressional committee also questioned Coast Guard officers on how a series of mistakes led to what is being described as the greatest Bay Area maritime disaster in twenty years.
While Rear Adm. Craig Bone—the Coast Guard district commander—apologized for not reporting the spill to local government officials sooner, he did tell the panel the response to it “exceeded expectations.”
“It was one of the most successful cleanups I've ever experienced,” he said.
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