NATION IN BRIEF

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Coast Guard Faulted On Oil-Spill Response

SAN FRANCISCO -- Assessment and recovery teams hit the skies, waters and beaches Friday trying to contain the damage from a 58,000-gallon oil spill in San Francisco Bay.

Oil skimmers, surveillance flights and shoreline cleanup teams continued to mop up the damage as questions persisted about why the Coast Guard took so long to report the scope of the spill.

The spill, believed to be the biggest in the bay since 1988, has fouled miles of coastline, closed several beaches, canceled outdoor events, and threatened thousands of birds and marine animals.

Local officials and environmentalists criticized the Coast Guard for initially underreporting the amount of oil that had leaked when a South Korea-bound container ship struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in dense fog Wednesday morning. City officials said they were told more than 12 hours after the incident that just 140 gallons had leaked into the bay.

Rear Adm. Craig Bone, the Coast Guard's top official in California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, did not explain the delay but said it "is not acceptable." He said the Coast Guard's response was immediate and aggressive.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) declared a state of emergency Friday because of the spill after meeting with state, federal and local officials. He said he is satisfied with the cleanup efforts.

Florida Rejects Water Deal

The state of Florida backed away from a temporary truce brokered by the Bush administration to help settle a long-standing water war -- now heightened by an ongoing drought -- involving Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Florida's environmental protection chief said the state opposes an arrangement under which the Army Corps of Engineers would cut river flows into Florida and Alabama in an effort to capture more water for Georgia. The river reductions would cause a "catastrophic collapse of the oyster industry in Apalachicola Bay" and "displace the entire economy of the Bay region," wrote Michael Sole, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. He was referring to Gulf Coast waters off northwest Florida.

Coroner: Woman Killed Self

PHOENIX -- A woman who died in police custody during an airport layover accidentally strangled herself on her shackles while intoxicated on a potent mix of alcohol and antidepressants, the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office said. Carol Anne Gotbaum, 45, of New York died in a police holding room at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Sept. 28. A private autopsy conducted for Gotbaum's family has not been completed. The family has accused police of mistreating Gotbaum.

Record Supply of Flu Vaccine

More than 103 million doses of influenza vaccine have been distributed to clinics, hospitals and pharmacies this year -- the most ever, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. As many as 132 million doses will be available by the end of the flu-vaccination season, which can extend into December and January, the CDC said. Flu season usually peaks in January and February. It is off to a slow start this year, with just a few cases reported so far, the CDC said.

N.J. May Drop Death Penalty

TRENTON, N.J. -- State lawmakers will decide within two months whether to get rid of the death penalty, legislative leaders said. New Jersey has not held an execution in 44 years. The state Assembly and Senate will consider whether to reduce the death penalty to life in prison without parole. New Jersey has eight men on death row.

Plague Cited in Arizona Death

PHOENIX -- A wildlife biologist at Grand Canyon National Park probably died from the plague through his exposure to wild animals that can carry the disease, the National Park Service said. Eric York, 37, was found dead in his home Nov. 2. Health officials in Arizona warned in September that the plague appeared to be on the rise.

-- From News Services