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Old shipwreck causes fresh mess on Calif. coast |
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| USA: February 12, 2002 | ||
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SAN FRANCISCO - An old shipwreck was blamed for a fresh mess along California's coast last week as officials traced a mystery oil spill that has harmed more than 1,500 seabirds to a freighter that sank in 1953.
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The U.S. Coast Guard and the California Department of Fish and Game said that oil samples from the wreck of the SS Jacob Luckenbach some 17 miles (27 km) south of the Golden Gate Bridge matched the oily slick that had fouled a 220-mile (350-km) stretch of the California coast since November. "This is very exciting. We've been trying to find the sources of mystery spills for years, so this discovery is truly gratifying," said Bill Castle, supervising chemist at California's Petroleum Chemistry Laboratory near Sacramento. The slick was detected on Nov. 25 and has been blamed for killing or hurting 1,541 seabirds off the Northern California coast. Officials said they traced the oil to the Jacob Luckenbach by using remotely operated submersible vehicles to probe the wrecked freighter for signs of leaking fuel. Further tests revealed the Jacob Luckenbach was also responsible for "mystery" spills detected in 1992 and 1993, 1997 and 1998, 1999 and February 2001. The agencies are developing plans to staunch the oil leak, which may involve salvaging the shipwreck.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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