Friday, June 01, 2007

Beach Fuel Spill Part II

Not sewage, petroleum.


Friday morning: Lifeguard trucks patrol the beach. If you look carefully you can see clumps of fuel in the surf zone. It's hard to tell in the photos but obvious in person.


Friday evening: clumps of dead kelp are starting to show up on the beach. The smell of diesel isn't as bad as it was 24 hrs ago, but it's still strong enough to make me wonder how that group of people in the chairs can stand it.


Encinitas fire department, a photo journalist and Kahuna Bob suss it out.

Here is a list of news stories about the spill click here.

For some strange reason some of the local television news stations are reporting that the fuel has not reached the beach, but as you can see from the photos I took last night it clearly has.

This story should not be downplayed, the Beacon's Beach kelp beds which have made a huge comeback from ZERO kelp in 2006 to several large kelp patties and now sitting in the muck. I can only imagine what effect this spill is having on the young fish that live in the kelp. The kelp beds are a nursery for all kinds of sea life. I wonder how the kelp itself is being affected.

I assume that all the Grunion eggs layed on the beach during the last couple of weeks are dead.

The Switchfoot Bro-Am surf contest has been canceled but the concert will go on. The Switchfoot guys are big time musicians these days. They all surf and are from Encinitas.

22 comments:

  1. So are hydrocarbons from boats bad for Ocean life?

    I wonder if we should be encouraging so many people to be buzzing around in power boats and watercraft?

    Why do Americans consume 10 times the amount of gas than all other country populous?

    Wouldn’t it be better for the environment if gas prices were higher?

    Is it really good news that gas prices are falling again?

    Do you think dolphins and whales like tasting gas and oil?

    Are hydrocarbons bad for whales, seals and fish to breathe and ingest?

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  2. Oil spills happen even more frequently in third world countries that don't use as much fossil fuel per capita only there they don't bat an eye and don't try to clean it up.

    The only reason the other countries have not caught up on per capita use is they have not modernized yet and many people can afford a car. Once they can afford cars, assuming their populations don't remain in a state of exploit, they are going to be using a lot more petrol.

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  3. This diesel fuel spill had nothing to do with cars. It most likely came from a cargo ship that came from China delivered plastic widgits in Long Beach to be sold in Wal*Mart

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  4. Drainage runoff from the streets causes much more pollution than this minor spill. Focus your energy accordingly.

    Regarding the use of petro from developing nations-It makes me pray that the rest world does not get as consumed at material goods and oil dependant as the US.

    Oink Oink. I am American and I can consume more than anyone else in the world!

    Why – Because we have hot chicks like Lynsie Lowhan and Britney Spears. Oh yeah- We are coooool.

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  5. I think it was a Navy ship, and so do some others.

    There were military "war games" going on off the coast, and at least three big ships passed by we hear.

    I know I have a low emissions car, and am driving less. People, trade in your SUV's for hybrids, if you can afford them.

    I wonder if Jerome Stocks will be at "Environmental Day" tomorrow at Moonlight, collecting signatures for his no smoking on the beach petition? What a farce.

    I'd be curious to see what kind of car everyone on Council drives? We shouldn't spend the jet fuel to send these "folks" to Japan, either. They can do that on their own dollars, if they want to go.

    Our sister city should be Solana Beach, which we patterned ourselves after, when we incorporated. We shouldn't hold an "event" like "Environmental Day," on the same day as Solana Beache's "Fiesta del Sol," in my opinion. I hope they cancel the surf contest tomorrow, so the surfers won't risk contamination.

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  6. Drainage runoff is a big problem but I've never seen runoff as bad as this spill was Thursday night and nothing like the smell (even the poopy Cottonwood Creek).

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  7. WWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
    WWwWAAAAAAAAAAAA
    wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
    WWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
    RSPB

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  8. JP-

    You can't see it, but many more gallons of oil and other toxic car fluids like antifreeze get drained into the ocean along our coast every day. Those 300,000 trips per day from N. County to San Diego have approximately 3% of the vehicles dripping fluid. That’s 6,000 cars per day dripping toxic fluid within Encinitas every day. All those dripping along with dog poop, bird poop, and RSPB poop and vomit wash down the drain to ocean outfalls.

    Soooo- When at the beach stay away from the stormdrain effluent. The discharge is often times more hazardous than the flush from your own toilet. and PLEASE make sure young kids don’t play in any runoff. Its like playing in poison.

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  9. That particular day I was watching the ocean from my wonderful home in Cardiff that I bought in 1983 and couldn't afford now. Anyway, I saw one ship, looked like a military ship of some kind, heading toward the Moonlight area.I got out my binoculars and took a closer look. I am not sure what a submarine looks like on the water, but it looked like the pictures I have seem in photos of these vessels. It was definitely flying a flag. I assume it was an American flag, although I couldn't be sure. Just thought I would pass it on.

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  10. Last anon, you can add pesticides and runoff from golf courses, horse farms and homes to that list. Ah, sweet suburbia!

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  11. JP...I am out of town and just had an opportunity to check the NC Times to find out what was going on in Encinitas. After I read about the fuel spill at the beach....I went to the blog. Thanks for keeping on top of this situation with pictures and good questions.

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  12. Thanks for keeping connected while you're gone, Teresa. JP, your pictures, and coverage, are excellent.

    And Dr. Lorri, thank you for the info. We think it was a Navy vessel, too, and that this could be determined by examining the fuel and the shipping records through public document requests. The City could pursue this, and ask for a fine against the "culprit."

    Dripping cars need to be retired. Yes, and don't play in the poopy water flowing in through the storm drains.

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  13. Great, Barth is running this city through the wack jobs that blog here. This really fills me with confidence that Barth will make a difference.

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  14. hey leucadiablogspot blogger (anon 648) how about giving us a few examples of the wackjobs?

    People interesting in what is going in in their town, People that want sidewalks, don't want to be overrun by traffic, and want an end to a government that doesn't funnel all our money to special interest groups are wackjobs? Were you thinking of something else?

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  15. First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.

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  16. There are three wackjobs on the council now and Barth isn't one of them.

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  17. This blog freaks out the establishment. The news reported that the fuel spill was harmless and did not reach the beach. J.P.'s photographs proved them wrong. The spill cleanup was botched. Why didn't the Coast Guard or the city lifeguards drop booms before the spill reached the beach? The beach cleanup was downright pathetic. We may be wackjobs but that is better than the hackjobs at city hall.

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  18. wackjobs:
    People that advocate criminal behavior such as defacing other people property.
    People that hold candlelight vigils for trees.
    People that advocate being drunk and wondering the streets.

    To name a few.

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  19. Wackjobs=people who say more traffic is less traffic.

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  20. Candlelight vigils for trees and promoting vandalism or allowing the removal of property for public street medians is wack.

    I don't think RSBP is actually an advocate.

    anon 941

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  21. F#*K Kahuna Bob!

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  22. Why do you care that people loved and will miss the trees that were planted when our community was founded?

    Having a candlelight vigil doesn't harm anyone or anyone's property. Defacing billboards is different. The defaced billboard is offensive to most people, I'd say, and in this case may be racist.

    Some people posting on this blog seem bound and determined to ruin it for everyone.

    ReplyDelete

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