1,000 Gallons of Fuel Spill Into Bay : Incident on Silver Strand Kills Shore Birds; Source Unknown

An oil spill from an unknown source in San Diego Bay sent Navy crews rushing to clean up the fuel and rescue sticky shore birds Wednesday.

As much as 1,000 gallons of diesel-type fuel was spilled into an inlet near the Navy Marina, where private boats owned by Navy personnel are kept, on the Silver Strand between Coronado and Imperial Beach.

At least 25 birds were killed when trapped in the oil. A Navy spokesman said the spill occurred before 8 a.m. The spokesman said it may take as long as two weeks to gather all information on the spill.

The spilled fuel was “almost as light as kerosene,” and up to a quarter-inch thick in some areas, Coast Guard Lt. Steve Mojonnier said.

A spokeswoman at the Naval Amphibious Base on the Silver Strand said apparently more than one kind of fuel had spilled, but could not say what type it was.

At least 15 birds were rescued by Navy and Sea World personnel and taken to Sea World, where they will be cared for for two weeks. The birds need to be bathed at least three times to remove the oil, which makes it impossible for them to fly, said Lt. Donna Grisham, a spokeswoman at the Amphibious Base.

The South Bay area along the Silver Strand is home to large numbers of waterfowl and shore birds during the winter months.

Oil is toxic to fish, Mojonnier said, but no fish kills were reported.

The spill was cleaned up in about four hours by boats with suction systems that skimmed oil off the water, and with the use of absorbent mats, Grisham said. About 65 people, most of them Navy personnel, took part in the cleanup.

By late afternoon, there was nothing left but “a very light rainbow sheen, which . . . should dissipate within a few hours,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Jesus Valenzuela said.

The Coast Guard is investigating the spill.

If the persons responsible for the spill along the Silver Strand are found they will be prosecuted, according to a spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game.

Another spill Wednesday, from an oil pipeline across the bay to the San Diego Gas & Electric power plant in Chula Vista, apparently had no connection to the spill on the Silver Strand.

An SDG&E; spokesman said about 200 gallons of fuel escaped from a leak in the line. Some of the oil spilled into a marsh along the bay and was cleaned up by a private company called in by SDG&E.;