AR-News: Spill claims few wildlife casualties

[jim robertson]

Spill claims few wildlife casualties

By Sophia Kazmi

CONTRA COSTA TIMES


CORDELIA - Veterinarian Michael Ziccardi is happy about one aspect of last 
week's Suisun Marsh oil spill -- the small number of animal causalities.

By Saturday evening, searchers rescued 13 birds and a beaver that later had 
to be euthanized, and they found 15 birds and six mammals dead.

"We are pleasantly surprised," said Ziccardi, program director of the Oiled 
Wildlife Care Network. "For the amount of oil out there, we are happy with 
the numbers."

Up to 60,000 gallons of diesel spilled into the marsh from a Kinder Morgan 
Energy Partners pipeline. The fuel is contained in a 242-acre section of the 
marsh, said Dana Michaels, spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish 
and Game. No endangered animals or protected species have been affected by 
the spill, she said. Michaels provided the evening's count of affected 
animals.

Workers from the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, Fish and Game and other 
agencies have been searching from dawn to dusk for wildlife, Ziccardi said. 
The task is especially hard because affected birds sometimes hide in thick 
brush seeking warmth. Covered in diesel, their feathers are no longer 
waterproof, so they stay out of the cold water, Ziccardi said.

At the same time, the workers have been trying to scare curious animals away 
from the marsh. Some animals are staying away because of the frenzy of human 
activity, Ziccardi said.

Unlike crude oil, diesel is clear, making it hard to see on animals. So 
workers are smelling out where and how bad the damage is to the animals.

Animals found alive are taken to the center -- which is just a few miles 
from the spill. There, they are examined and given food and water. Only when 
they are finally over their shock are the animals washed and dried. Workers 
then try to introduce the birds slowly back into water at the center. This 
process takes 10 to 14 days, Ziccardi said.

Land animals are usually transferred to other centers for care.

Pipeline workers laboring through the night have removed the damaged 
pipeline and replaced it with 50 feet of new line, Michaels said. The 
damaged pipe will be examined to determine the cause of the leak, she said. 
Once the new pipe is certified by the state fire marshal and U.S. Department 
of Transportation, the new line could be running as early as today.

Fish and Game is still determining the spill's impact on the marsh.

"The assessment will take some time before we'll know the full damage," 
Michaels said.

More than 100 people have been working on the repairs since Wednesday, when 
the leak was first reported to authorities, Michaels said.


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Reach Sophia Kazmi at 925-847-2122 or skazmi at cctimes.com.



"One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or 
torture an animal and get away with it" —  Margaret Mead.

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