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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 05101988 - 2.5 f IZI TOr BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FROM PHIL BATCHELOR Contra County Administrator Costa DATE: April 28, 1988 V.r""' "J SUBJECT:` SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT REPORT ON IMPACTS RESULTING FROM UNITED STATES COAST GUARD REDUCTIONS OF SERVICE SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) 8e BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION: Consider report from Sheriff-Coroner on the impacts resulting from .United States Coast Guard reductions .of -service. REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION/BACKGROUND:' On March 8, your. Board requested the Sheriff-Coroner to report back to your Board on impacts due to reductions of Coast Guard services in Contra Costa County. The Sheriff's :Department has prepared that report for your review and consideration and is prepared to discuss the impacts with your Board. r .CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION BOARD COMMITTEE -_ _ APPROVE .. OTHER SIGNATURE(S): - ACTION IGNATUREISI:ACT1ON OF BOARD ON May-_10, .• 1988 P PPROVED AS RECOM MENDED OTHER X . IT IS BY THE BOARD ORDERED that the report from the Sheriff on the impacts resulting from. United States Coast Guard reductions in service is ACCEPTED; and the issues of. the. feasibility of Coast Guard funding coming from the Department of Defense rather than,' the Department of Transportation, and on the feasibility of reimbursement from the Federal Government for costs relatedto water search and rescue efforts 'by the Contra Costa County Sheriff' s Dept. are REFERRED to ,VOTE OF SUPERVISORS the County Administrator for report back to the Board. X 4 I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE _ UNANIMOUS (ABSENT P&M CORRECT COPYOF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE-MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF. SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN: cc* ATTESTED May 10, 1988 Sheriff-Coronet CAO-Justice System Programs PHIL.BATCHELOR, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF County Administrator SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR County Counsel 0 BY ,DEPUTY M382/7-83 — Sheriff-Coroner Richard K.Rainey Contra Costa County SHERIFF-CORONER Warren E. Rupf .P.O. Box 391 Assistant Sheriff Martinez, California 94553-0039 Gerald T. Mitoslnka (415) 646- Assistant Sheriff Warren E. Rupf April 5, 1988 To: Assistant Sheriff date: From: Gary C. Ford, Captain Subject: Reduction of Coast Guard by: Lieutenant J. D. Sizemo Services The closure of S.A.R. Station Mare Island depicts the nation-wide .reduction of services by the U.S.C.G. The impact to our Marine Services will be seen in increased S.A.R. cases, more calls for service, and a lengthened response time from remaining Coast Guard Stations. BACKGROUND The Coast Guard, under the Department of Transportation, had a budget of 2 . 5 Billion dollars for FY 87-88. The budget was reduced by 100 million dollars in mid-year. This cut, while not an overwhelming percent of the total budget, created havoc because all reductions were made from operations. Station Mare Island was one of many casualties. Traditional peace-time duties of the Coast Guard include: Search & rescue, private boat safety inspections, commercial and merchant vessel inspections, assisting disabled boaters, investigation and clean-up of hazardous materials spills, drug smuggling interdiction, maintaining navigational aids, checking lighthouses, and charting navigational hazards. LOCAL BOUNDARIES The San Francisco Bay/Delta region was divided into three sectors by the Coast Guard. Station Yerba Buena Island covered San Francisco Bay and southern San Pablo Bay and handled 475 S.A.R. responses in 1987. Station Mare Island covered northern San Pablo Bay, Carquinez Straits, and Suisun Bay and handled 300 S.A.R. responses. Station Rio Vista covered the Sacramento River, San Joaquin River and the rest of the Delta as well as handling 320 S.A.R. cases last year. A total of 1,095 S.A.R. cases in the Bay/Delta area were handled by the Coast Guard. AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER •-•..........-....a—cv—ca-a-ro—rc�vi�—ca-rc—cncci pt�a 1 i Vltl—�Ct(�Cd'i1�G-dTFJEI1Ler'-5 recent Toastmaster' s talk on this subject. GCF:JDS: ld attach. Rod Carpenter STRAIT TALKERS (TOASTMASTERS) Club #6061 Speach #2 - Be In Earnest Monday, March 28 , 1988 "The Wrong Budget Cut" Introduction . On Sunday, January 10 , 1988 at 2 : 00 in the morning , the super tanker the "Arco Juneau " was making its way out of the Carquinez --- Straits--in -very heavy fog . Two large crashing sounds echoed out when the 853 foot tanker struck the north pylon of the Carquinez Bridge . The large wooden bracings were r_. ipped from the cement pylon . Two holes were put into the side of the ship . " The first was some 65 feet long and six feet high . The second started about l fifty feet back from the first . It was 100 feet long and six feet high . The holes were six to eight feet above the waterline . Huge pieces of wood and cement from the bridge were protruding from these holes . Because of a navigational error , the ship caused some $200 , 000 worth of damage to the bridge . But , in considering what could have happen , this was minor damage . It closed the bridge for a few hours , but what if the bridge had collapsed . What horrifying problems could have happened . What if . . . the ship had not . just unloaded its crude oil ? Can you imagine what the situation would have been with millions of gallons of oil in the water? i` page 1 /these I bring this situation and questions to you because of a political action which took place last month . All federal agencies were r will into their budget year when the United States Congress finally passed the Gramm-Rudman Budget . As in many budgets , items were cut and other were added . But what effects all of us here was the cutting of 100 million dollars from the United States Coast Guard budget . The Coast Guard had to go through d�stic cuts because it was in the middle of its fiscal year . Twenty-two stations nation wide had to be cut . Active drug enforcement was reduced . Boat safety inspections and water patrol time was also reduced and even stopped some places . The U . S . Coast Guard ' s peace time activities had been search and rescue , searching for drug smugglers and manufactures , boat safety inspections , investigation and clean up of hazardous materials , charting navigational hazards , checking lighthouses , maintaining navigation aids , fire fighting , assisting disabled boaters , inspecting merchant and commerical vessels , and radar assistance for large ships in bays . But all of this has changed . The Congress has decided that the Coast Guard did not need the W.. money, as much as , AMTRAK. You see the Coast Guard is under the control of the Department of Transportation , and so is AMTRAK . I understand that there is a need for mass transit , but when it means cutting an essential organization then it is time for the public to react . page 2 Politicians from the States which are close to waters where the Coast Guard patrols have given their comments about the cuts . As in many political situations the politicians go about their business when the public stops reacting . This is the case we have with the budget reduction in the Coast Guard . It is no longer in the news , so we tend to forget about it , until we need it . Are you thinking that this does not concern you because you are not a boater? Let ' s look at it in a different light . Locally, four cars went off levees roads and bridges last year . Could you have been in one of them? How many times do you cross the Bay, Carquinez or Benicia Bridges? Who would respond to the water if another super tanker hit and collapsed one of them? Who would assist if there was an earthquake which collapsed l a bridge or bridges ? Who would fight a fire at an oil refinery pier? The average temperature of the water in the Bay Area is 52°F . There are not many people who are equiped with the proper clothing to sustain life in this cold water. If you wind up in the water there is a good chance that you will die . It does not take long for the body core to cool when in 520 water . The Coroner will list your death as caused by hyprothermia . When the Arco Juneau hit the bridge in January the Coast Guard had a response time of eight minutes . The personnel who responded came from Mare Island . Now , because of the budget cuts the personnel will be responding from Yerba Buena Island more than page 3 an hour away. Mare Island was one of the twenty-two stations cut nation wide . If they are responding to someone in the water , r' let me tell you , the victim o'r victims will probably be dead before the Coast Guard can arrive . Enough talk about- death . Now is the time to do something about the situation . As citizens we have the power . We can do some of the following : 1 ) Discuss the situation with a friend . This will alert others to the problem . 2 ) Make a phone call to the local office of your federal representatives to discuss the situation . 3 ) Write a letter or drop a post card in the mail to your federal representatives and make a comment on the matter . Please do not wait until you need the service . Now is the time to react . Think of the drugs which are coming into the country by way of boat . There is always the chance that your love ones could be affected by these drugs . They could become users . Highly unlikely . . . you say? They could be indirectly involved by being a victim of an vehicle or boating accident where a drug user is the driver . page 4 Next time when you are crossing one of the Bay Area bridges look down at the water and think . Must we have another Arco Juneau incident to bring the Coast Guard budget reductions to mind? What will be the out come , in the future , if there is another Arco Juneau incident? page 5