Crews clean up spilled fuel from oil tanker

SAN FRANCISCO - Crews worked Saturday to clean up fuel leaked into San Francisco Bay and care for a dozen birds one day after an oil tanker spilled hundreds of gallons into the water.

The Coast Guard dispatched 10 boats to scoop up shipping fuel about 2.5 miles southeast of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. A helicopter surveyed for environmental damage while wildlife crews searched the ground for affected wildlife.

Some 422 gallons of oil spilled onto the deck of the Panamanian-flagged Dubai Star and into the water after a fuel line ruptured Friday during a fuel transfer, Coast Guard spokeswoman Sherri Eng said.

About 53,000 feet of nonabsorbent barriers known as boom were deployed to contain the oil from Yerba Buena Island to the San Leandro Channel.

Eng said there were 12 reports of birds affected by the oil spill, although she did not know the species of birds.

The California Department of Fish and Game suspended fishing and shellfish harvesting between the Bay Bridge and the San Mateo Bridge along the Alameda County shoreline.

San Francisco officials also advised people to avoid contact with water in the Bay.

The spill came eight days ahead of the two-year anniversary of a shipping accident that caused a massive fuel discharge into San Francisco Bay.

In November 2007, the vessel Cosco Busan struck the Bay Bridge in dense fog and spilled 53,000 gallons of fuel oil into the bay, fouling 26 miles of shoreline along the iconic California waterway.

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