Contact: Jim Nickles, 916/414-6572

Oil from tanker Command washed ashore along San Mateo County coast

State and Federal agencies are seeking public comment on a draft plan to improve wildlife and resources damaged when the tank vessel Command leaked an estimated 3,000 gallons of fuel oil into the Pacific Ocean off the San Mateo County coast. The September 1998 spill killed more than 1,500 sea birds and scattered tarballs over 15 miles of beaches, mainly in San Mateo County.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the California Department of Fish and Game, the California State Lands Commission, and the California Department of Parks and Recreation are Trustees for the natural resources impacted by the oil spill. They have proposed 7 projects to help sea birds harmed by the spill, including the threatened marbled murrelet and the endangered brown pelican. Three other projects would improve public access to beaches at Seal Cove, Half Moon Bay and Mirada Surf.

Public comment on the draft plan ends at 5 p.m. Feb. 11, 2004 .

The draft restoration plan can be viewed or downloaded from several agency web sites:

•  http://www.fws.gov/sacramento\ea\News_Releases\2004News releases\finalCommand_Draft_ RP.pdf

•  http://www.darp.noaa.gov/southwest/command/index.html

•  http://www.dfg.ca.gov/ospr/organizational/scientific/nrda/NRDA.htm

It is also available from Charlene Hall, the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, at 916/414-6739, or by email at Charlene_Hall@fws.gov .

The projects would be funded by money from a 1999 court decree, which found a Greek shipping company liable for the spill. Of the $5,518,000 the company paid to the State and Federal governments for damages, cost reimbursement, and civil penalties, nearly $4 million is available to fund projects to rehabilitate natural resources.

The Trustee agencies will present the draft restoration plan and accept public comments at a meeting from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 29 at the Historic Ocean Shore Train Depot, on Higgins-Purissima Road just east of Highway 1 in Half Moon Bay. For detailed directions, please call the Half Moon Bay Department of Parks and Recreation at 650/726-8297.

Comments must be received by Feb. 11 to be considered. Please send comments to: Field Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Rm. 2605, Sacramento, CA 95825 (facsimile 916/414-6713) or via email to Charlene_Hall@fws.gov .

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses 542 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

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Contact us: Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-2605, Sacramento, California 95825
Phone (916) 414-6600 ~ FAX (916) 414-6713 ~ email: fw1sacweb@fws.gov, External Affairs Program (916)414-6565

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a part of the United States Government Department of Interior

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