[Ninong]

Coast Guard commandant admits response was not adequate and announces that he has replaced the local Coast Guard commander who led the response...

Adm. Thad Allen, the Coast Guard commandant who has defended his agency in recent days, acknowledged at Wednesday's Senate subcommittee briefing that the response was not adequate. He announced that he is replacing the commander who led the response, and within 90 days will make public the results of an investigation into what went wrong.

"It won't be the Coast Guard investigating the Coast Guard," Allen added, saying that other federal, state and Bay Area agencies will all be involved.

Here.

P.S. -- As a refresher: It was more than 8 hours after the spill before the Coast Guard realized it was 58,000 gallons and not 140 gallons, and it was more than 12 hours after the spill before they told anyone else about the true extent of the disaster.

The Coast Guard is charged with ensuring that the crew is tested for alcohol and drugs immediately after such an accident. The ship's pilot was tested within about two hours but other relevant crew members were not tested for 53 hours. The Coast Guard failed to ensure the timely testing of many of the crew members. Alcohol and drugs do not appear to have been involved but it's embarrassing that the Coast Guard failed in their responsibility to ensure that this testing was performed immediately.

The initial cleanup efforts by the Coast Guard were totally inadequate for the magnitude of the disaster. That's probably because they insisted all day long that the spill was only 140 gallons, as reported to them by the ship's crew and confirmed by the ship's owners. It's quite possible that the ship's fuel oil measuring gauges were damaged in the collision. Nonetheless, other competent expert eye witnesses on the scene even before the Coast Guard showed up informed the Coast Guard that the spill was certainly much, much larger than 140 gallons. The local Coast Guard commander chose to accept the ship captain's estimate of 140 gallons. The Coast Guard's own log shows that they did not learn it was actually 58,000 gallons until 4:48 p.m. and then they waited another four hours before telling anyone.

Maritime insurance agents on the scene estimate total insurance claims will exceed $100 million.

[Ninong]

Wildlife biologists now estimate more than 20,000 birds died as a result of the oil spill: here.