Friends of the Bay (FOB) complimented Commander Oil Company and its new owner, Island Properties, for the immediate, professional response to Friday's (June 7, 2002) spill of 400 gallons of gasoline into Oyster Bay Harbor. F.O.B. also notes the accident forecasts "nearly inevitable" future spills, which make the continued operation of an oil storage and transfer facility incompatible with Oyster Bay's thriving oyster industry.

Abraham Poznanski of Island Properties said of the Commander business, "It's something we have to study and understand: the implications of the oil terminal. It has been there since 1929 and represents important fuel heating oil and gasoline supply to the local community. We have to study the implications of closing it down.

"It is a business and obviously a part of the risk of the business is that we could have a spill. We do have a plan for immediate response for spills and that plan went into effect on Friday. Whatever the conditions were they were able to react quickly and stop the spill within seconds. All the government agencies were contacted and everyone did a great job.

"We have a contract with a spill response company and they were on the site within 30 minutes. They are Tradewinds Environmental in West Babylon. We try to protect all the area and especially the environmentally sensitive areas," he said.

"I would agree with people that accidents do happen," he added.

Mr. Poznanski said, as he understood the events leading to the spill, the boat was tied up at night and unloaded at 8:30 in the morning and as it got lighter, it raised up in the water and became loose and started drifing away from the dock.

He said fortunately all the necessary personnel were on hand and literally in seconds, everyone reacted. "It could have been worse. Certainly that risk is out there," he said.

Mr. Poznanski said our first goal was to secure and clean up the spill. The next stop is to look at what happened so it doesn't happen again. We have already taken steps to address what happened and correct the process so it doesn't happen again, he added.

Although Friends of the Bay was critical about the location of Commander Oil, it had great appreciation of the fast response of the Commander Oil personnel in reacting to the accident.

Louise Harrison, executive director of F.O.B., said "the rapid deployment of Commander's personnel and implementation of their oil spill response plan, coupled with an onshore breeze and incoming tide, minimized the damage done and the danger posed by the spilled, highly combustible, product into the harbor. I visited the site just hours after the response team undertook containment and cleanup, and saw first-hand that the best job possible was done, given the unfortunate circumstances."

Ms. Harrison explained that as the boat drifted the hose extended but finally ended up twisting a pipe that burst letting the gasoline seep out.

The spilled gasoline was contained near the mouth of White's Creek, and by late afternoon on Friday, Ms. Harrison said, the cleanup crew was removing the absorbent materials set out around the containment area. Since it is volatile, the cleanup was made easier as some of the gas evaporated.

"It is extremely fortunate the spill was no larger than it was and that the weather and tides were in favor of protecting Oyster Bay's fragile and economically important ecosystem," she said. "Next time we may not be so lucky."

Ms. Harrison said the gasoline tends to vaporize. The DEC is expected to come back to check the marsh line.

"They handled it very well," she repeated. "The wind was blowing toward the shore and the tide was coming in. That is not to say there is not more residue left in the marsh but it could have been worse. While there is nothing like a perfect cleanup, they did a great job."

She said, "We don't know all the effects of oil spills. We would rather not have the oil terminal there."

Mr. Poznanski arranged for a tour of the facility for Ms. Harrison. "He showed me the pipe that was broken and I saw the people laying out the fabric and from my view it appeared clean and I couldn't detect an odor." Tony Casandra, in charge of the cleanup for Island Properties told Ms. Harrison that he contacted the Coast Guard. They told him to open up the containment booms because the gasoline is highly combustible.

Mr. Casandra said one of the lines in the stern of the boat broke away and the boat and the stern started to drift toward the shore and was still unloading its product while it was drifting. By the time people saw it, the pipe was stretched to its limits but bent the pipe which caused a fracture in the pipe.

Jack Williams, F.O.B.'s president, said, "Friday's story is a cautionary tale. We've maintained for years that Commander's facility is a danger to the oyster industry and to all that our fine water quality brings to Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor. We hope that Island Properties shares our concern and comes to the realization that no matter how careful a company is, accidents will happen, and any petroleum accident in Oyster Bay could spell catastrophe. We'd like to see the operation begin to phase down. We would welcome the opportunity to work with Island Properties and the Town of Oyster Bay to plan more compatible development and activities along the eastern waterfront area."

Friends of the Bay has worked for years toward the cleanup and redevelopment of Oyster Bay's western waterfront, which now provides public, recreational access to the harbor's waters. Restoration of the site continues under the direction of the Town of Oyster Bay and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, which own the properties there. Improvements there were celebrated on site on June 1 this year, at Friends of the Bay's second annual "Bay Day," attended by over 1,000 individuals and families.

"We'd like to see the same kind of positive change we've seen at the western waterfront to take place along the eastern waterfront. Since much of the eastern waterfront now is owned by Island Properties, there exists a real opportunity to restore the coastline in Oyster Bay for the benefit of the estuary and the people," said Ms. Harrison.