Oil Spill in San Francisco as a result of Ship collision with the Oakland Bay Bridge


I am sure sometime ago we all read in the news media and on also saw on TV. Where a container ship which was traveling through dense fog bumped into a tower supporting the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge spilling thousands of gallons of oil into the sea.
The accident caused no structural damage to the span but the ship's hull suffered a large gash that poured about 58,000 gallons of fuel in the bay. The leak prompted the closures of five San Francisco beaches an official said, Several people who were at the Port of San Francisco reported getting headaches and feeling nauseated from inhaling oil fumes, but the city's public health department said no one was at risk from long-term health effects.
The Cosco Busan ship, which was heading from Oakland to South Korea, struck a tower west of Yerba Buena Island. The ship later anchored north of Treasure Island, outside the channel. A veteran bay pilot who was the captain of the massive ship, guiding it out of the Bay at the time of the collision.
"The vessel did not actually contact the bridge," he said. "We have a fender system that is on the outside of the bridge that acts as a bumper…It served its purpose…We lost about 100 feet of the fender system in the collision. There are several beams that are 8x10x14 feet and weigh 400 pounds apiece that have to be replaced."
The Coast Guard as it appears to me were late in getting to the spill site rendering a massive oil spill into the sea beaches thereby polluting an entire area.
The marine inspectors conducted several investigations into the cause of the accident, while an Army Corps of Engineers crew collected large wooden chunks from the bridge fender system that broke off into the water. Even though Hanjin Shipping the owners of the ship will pay for the cost of the bay clean-up. There was some unethical practice.
The port was posting signs warning people not to fish in certain areas near the spill.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management Board also monitored the safety of the air.
The San Francisco police and the Coast Guard also enforced a 100-foot safety zone around the leaked fuel and the ship, docked north of Treasure Island, according to the Coast Guard.
On the whole there were some ethical violations on the part of the ship owners and the coast guard.


Posted By: Benjamin Yaw Atsem

Sources:

“Oil Spilled in Bridge Collision closes San Francisco Beaches”
POSTED: 9:49 am PST November 7, 2007
UPDATED: 11:58 pm PST November 7, 2007
<http://www.ktvu.com/news/14532288/detail.html>

“Ship Types 101 - San Francisco Bay Bridge Oil Tanker Collision”
Gcaptain . November 12th, 2007
<http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/ship-types-101-san-francisco-bay-bridge-oil-tanker-collision/>

The Ethical Issue of Animal Testing for Research

While we all do understand that we can’t progress in science, engineering, economics, mathematics, nursing, medicine and in life as human beings without the need for research. There is the need to do research for good purposes but not for the making of nuclear weapons and toxic chemicals to destroy our environment. Break through in science and engineering has lead the United States and Russia to be at the fore front of Space Science. Scientific research has lead major companies to discover vaccines and drugs for diseases such as Polo, TB.There is also now the talk about the moral and ethical concerns about stem cell research especially the cloning of human parts and animals.Currently most medical and scientific research is done using mice. Researches have found a gene, Par-4, in the prostate of mice, which actually suppresses the growth of tumors. The study found that mice born with this gene do not develop tumors. They grow normally, have no defects and actually live a few months longer than the control animals. The gene can also be found in other cells within mice. Scientists injected the gene into eggs, and then implanted them into surrogate mothers. With this after sometime there is a mice offspring, which possess enough carbon copy of the gene to resist cancer growth. How nice it will be if we develop treatment through this technique to cure people with the various forms of cancer. However, it is not yet known if this same gene exists in humans, or if another version from mice can be transplanted into humans to create the same cancer-resistant behavior.This will greatly be a cure for traditional cancer treatments like chemotherapy. This will therefore need an extensive animal as well as human testing to fully observe the benefits and side effects of the gene. This is basically genetic engineering or gene splicing. With all these research activities comes with the ethical debate and concerns again? In this vein some animal and human subjects have to die in the process of researching a cure. This has given rise to the sale of human parts and the abduction of humans or human trafficking in certain countries, though this practice is cruel and evil.If we can save the lives of millions of people on our planet especially those suffering from HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Stroke, Alzheimer’s, Spinal Cord Injuries and others at the cost of just a relatively few, then that would indeed be the greatest benefit for civilization and mankind.

Posted By: Benjamin Yaw Atsem

Sources:

Myers, Lauren“Animal testing necessary in medical research”Issue date: 11/6/07

Section.http://media.wildcat.arizona.edu/media/storage/paper997/news/2007/11/06/Opinions/Animal.Testing.Necessary.In.Medical.Research-3080864.shtml


“Researchers Say They Have Created Cancer-Resistant 'Super Mouse”

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,313461,00.html

“Animal testing a necessary research tool, for now”
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/0903poste0903.html