Berkeley Residents Flock to Volunteer in Oil Spill Cleanup

Scores of residents from around the Bay Area gathered at the Berkeley Marina Wednesday to undergo hazardous-materials training in order to assist with local oil spill cleanup efforts.

After 58,000 gallons of oil spilled into the bay on Nov. 7, the city of Berkeley was inundated with phone calls from eager volunteers who wanted to help. City officials quickly organized multiple training sessions so volunteers could safely help clean the bay.

Jeff Westervelt, an industrial hygienist with the Office of Spill Prevention and Response, a division of the California Department of Fish and Game, instructed a crowd of more than 100 volunteers for four hours, discussing topics such as the impacts oil can have on the human body and the chemical properties of petroleum.

In order to protect workers from hazardous conditions, they are generally required to undergo 24 hours of training and a day of work with supervision. Special four-hour sessions can also qualify workers, but they are only permissible for oil spills afford workers one-time qualification only.

The city began organizing volunteer organization efforts on Sunday. It was able to create a list of 80 volunteers interested in attending a safety training session who were called on Tuesday night before the meeting.

More volunteers than expected came to the session, and many were turned away by officials.

Those who were not allowed into the training session were encouraged to volunteer in areas where they would not come in contact with the oil itself —doing office work and searching for oiled birds­—or to attend a session that will be held at the marina on Saturday.

William Rogers, director of the city’s Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department, said further volunteer efforts for cleaning oil from the shore would be organized and utilized more efficiently after a Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique team surveys the marina area today.

Rogers said the previous cleanup assessment team told him the oil mess by the marina was the worst they had seen in the Bay Area.

Blobs of oil cover the rocks and beaches around the marina, which is home to wildlife and a recreational area often used by children.

Agnes Bernstein of San Francisco completed her training on Monday, cleaned up oil Monday and Tuesday in San Francisco and marked locations of oiled birds at the marina Wednesday.

“This stuff is so nasty,” Bernstein, who got oil on her hand during cleanup, said. “I couldn’t get it off for two days.”

Organizers were initially criticized for not accepting untrained volunteers, but said that without proper training people could cause more damage by contaminating themselves with oil or scaring birds into oil-covered water.

Students from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School and many businesses, such as Peet’s Coffee and Tea on Fourth Street, donated to the cleanup effort Wednesday.

The city responded very quickly to the crisis and was proactive in mobilizing volunteers, Rogers said.

“We were able to mobilize quickly, but that was only because of the city manager’s and the mayor’s support,” he said. “People in Berkeley care a lot about the environment. The city of Berkeley cares a lot about the environment.”

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