Two oil spills threaten fish, foul and humans

Two major oil spills on Tuesday were reminding everyone of another price that is paid for oil -- an environmental one.

More than 30,000 birds and countless fish have been killed in an "ecological catastrophe" wrought by thousands of tons of oil from a tanker that broke apart in a heavy storm near the Black Sea, the governor of the region said Monday.

The tanker was one of up to 10 ships that sank or ran aground in the storm Sunday in the strait connecting the Black and Azov Seas. The bodies of three sailors from a freighter that also broke apart washed up on shore Monday, and rescuers were looking for five missing crewmen, said Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Sergei Kozhemyaka.

The spill from the oil tanker was seen as potentially the worst environmental disaster in the region in recent years. It prompted criticism that many Russian tankers aren't seaworthy.

Meanwhile, a harbor pilot under investigation in San Francisco Bay's biggest oil spill in two decades initially believed the damage to his ship was minor, radioing that the vessel had just "touched" the Bay Bridge, his lawyer said Monday.

In fact, Wednesday's collision ripped a gash in the fuel tank of the Hong Kong-based Cosco Busan, unleashing 58,000 gallons of thick, toxic fuel oil that was still being cleaned up.