After 11 days of testing, the multi-agency task force assembled to assess the threat posed by the sunken S.S. Montebello has concluded there are no visible signs of oil in the ship’s hull.
“Our No. 1 objective for this mission was to determine what threat, if any, the Montebello poses to the waters and shorelines of California,” Coast Guard Capt. Roger Laferriere said in a statement. “After careful evaluation of the data, we have concluded with a high level of confidence that there is no oil threat from the S.S. Montebello.”
The entire effort cost roughly $5 million, and officials point out that it was entirely paid for by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, comprised of fees paid by oil companies, not taxpayers.
Just hours before the Sun published an article on the task force’s mission (“Risky business”) on Oct. 20, Department of Fish and Game officials reported that crews had run into problems drilling into the hull, and that the mission was expected to last a few days longer than expected.
But crews were able to get the drill running and took a number of samples over the next 24 hours.
Of course, a hull void of the potential three million gallons of Santa Maria crude oil it was carrying when it went down raises other questions. Where did the oil go?
U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Adam Eggers told the Sun the data suggests the oil could have spilled the day the Montebello sank, the months after, or even slowly throughout the decades.
“Basically, any scenario you can think up is a possibility right now,” Eggers said. “We don’t know.”
To answer that question, the Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response is now sending trace oil samples to its laboratory in Rancho Cordova to compare with oil samples found washed up on California beaches over the years. Such testing could provide more information about when the oil escaped, where it went, and what damage it potentially caused.
Eggers said more information will become available in the coming weeks, and a final report is due out in spring 2012.
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 3, 2011.
