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For Immediate Release December 3, 2007 Contact:  Jessica Dunning 916 / 445-8994 PRESS RELEASE office of lieutenant Governor John Garamendi   STATE LANDS COMMISSION CHAIR JOHN GARAMENDI ISSUES STATEMENT ABOUT COSCO BUSAN OIL SPILL MITIGATION   Lands Commission charged with protecting California’s public lands.   SACRAMENTO, CA – Lt. Governor John Garamendi, Chair of California’s State Lands Commission (SLC), today directed SLC staff to pursue any options, including legal remedies, to mitigate the vast area of state lands despoiled by the Cosco Busan.  Garamendi issued the following statement following today’s SLC meeting:   “In the weeks since 58,000 gallons of toxic bunker fuel from the Cosco Busan spilled into the San Francisco Ba y, we are just beginning to take stock of the extensive devastation to local wildlife, economies and even human health.  What we know is that thousands of birds have died or been injured, Californians have been turned away from public beaches and parks, and the State faces tremendous costs in undoing the damage done to our State’s fouled coastline.   “A large percentage of the despoiled areas are state lands, owned by the people of California and held in trust by the state.  Today, as Chair of the State Lands Commission, I directed staff to pursue any options, including legal remedies, to mitigate the damage to miles of state lands despoiled by the Cosco Busan.     “Given the vast stretch of state lands damaged in this catastrophe, it is paramount that the SLC, the commission charged with protecting our state’s public lands, takes a leadership role in mitigation efforts.   “Today’s directive will ensure that the SLC takes immediate action, including an assessment of damage and a review of legal options, to recover the funds necessary to rebuild and revitalize the public trust areas devastated by the spill.”   The State Lands Commission was created by the Legislature (State Land Act of 1938) to have exclusive jurisdiction over managing 4 million acres of public trust lands.  These, which are owned by the people and held in trust by the State, include the beds of California’s naturally navigable rivers, lakes and streams, as well as the state’s tide and submerged lands extending 3 miles off the state’s 1,130 miles of coastline..   ###

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