Two-mile oil slick closes fishing on Petaluma River

<p>David Yearsley was paddling his canoe on the Petaluma River near the outlet mall on Monday morning when he got a phone call — an oil spill had been reported further south on the river.</p><p>So Yearsley, the founder of Friends of the Petaluma River and a longtime river advocate, quickly headed down to see the extent of the spill.</p><p>“I paddled back into town and I saw the (oil containment) boom under the Washington Street bridge,” he said. “I was really concerned,” he added. “I didn't know what it was; everyone was kind of waiting to get some news.”</p><p>When Yearsley eventually got farther down the river, he was dismayed to see “isolated patches of heavy oil moving with the tide.”</p><p>The oil had come from a 90-ton tugboat on the riverbank that was in the process of being salvaged for scrap material. Leakage from the boat was first reported to the fire department at about 8:20 Monday morning. The department quickly arrived, and before long, so did the California Department of Fish & Game's oil spill response team.</p><p>Eventually, officials estimated that 200 to 600 gallons of gear oil or engine oil had spilled into the river. The oil sheen spread two miles long reaching from the boat — on an inlet along Hopper Street near Lakeville Street — all the way to downtown and Highway 101. </p><p>By Tuesday, Fish and Game officials closed the river to all fishing from the Payran Street Bridge to the Highway 101 overcrossing. Oil-absorbing “booms” were deployed as a precautionary measure in the area around the boat as well as farther down the river and in sensitive areas like Ellis Creek and Adobe Creek.</p><p>“All of this was preventative and designed to reflect and absorb the sheen that didn't get away from us,” said Alexia Retallack, a spokesperson from the California Department of Fish and Game.</p><p>As of Tuesday evening, no immediate damage to wildlife was observed, said Retallack. A light sheen still exists on parts of the river, and spot cleaning will continue along the shore in the next few days, she said. Work is still being done with a vacuum truck and high-pressure spray to clean all of the oil out of the tugboat. The exact amount oil spilt and the amount that responders have corralled or absorbed is still being determined.</p><p>The company that owned the tugboat and was doing the salvage work was identified as ATOP TRC Inc., based in Alameda. Although the company may face charges for the spill, it is still unknown what exactly in the course of their work caused the spill.</p><p>“Who did what when; how did the oil escape, that's still under investigation,” said Retallack.</p><p>Although what happened is unclear, “we suspect there were some things that were not in place,” said Retallack.</p><p>It is unknown whether the company had all the permits needed for the work or whether they “pre-boomed” around the boat to protect against spill damage, as is often required, she said. Depending on what violations occurred, the case will either be referred to the district attorney's office or within the Department of Fish & Game for administrative penalties.</p><p>With the abundance of boats that are abandoned or salvaged on the Petaluma River, there is normally a high threat for this type of incident, said Brian Swedberg, harbormaster at Port Sonoma, a marina and salvage operation near where the Petaluma River meets the San Pablo Bay.</p><p>“It's not uncommon to have a boat break apart before it's out of the water,” said Swedberg. “That's one of the reasons it takes so long to get the abandoned boats off of the river.”</p><p>There are a variety of safeguards in place so that “when it does leak oil — and most of them do — it doesn't float away,” said Swedberg.</p><p>For example, workers are required to cordon-off, or “pre-boom,” the water around the work that is being done, and approval is required from state agencies before the salvage work is done. </p><p>However, many boats exist in seldom-traveled parts of the river, and are susceptible to leaks that people don't know about.</p><p>“The only reason we know it happened this time is because it happened where we could see it,” said J.T. Wick, principal with Berg Holdings, which owns Port Sonoma.</p><p>Wick said that many old boats on the river pose a problem. But the river is also especially sensitive.</p><p>“It's not really a river; it's a coastal slough,” said Wick, noting the stagnant water and lack of flow in the Petaluma River. “That why this has such an impact.”</p><p>Besides the obvious environmental impacts, the oil can seep into the heavy clay at the bottom of the river, making dredging more cumbersome and costly, he noted.</p><p>“We now know the importance of prevention,” said Wick. “It's a good message to all of us.”</p><p>(Contact Philip Riley at philip.riley@arguscourier.com)</p>