Oil Tanker Hits San Francisco's Bay Bridge

An empty oil tanker sideswiped a tower of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in heavy fog yesterday but the Coast Guard believes no oil was spilled into the bay. A large amount of absorbent boom was deployed as a precaution after the crash, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. There was damage to the 750-foot "Overseas Reymar" and to fenders around the bridge, but not to the bridge itself, which remained open to traffic. The Coast Guard is looking at human error as the possible cause of the accident. (More oil tanker stories.)