Oakland - On November 6, 2009, the East Bay Regional Park District opened two of four closed shoreline areas that were off limits due to the Dubai Star oil spill last week. Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland and Encinal Beach at Alameda Point in Alameda are now open. Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda and the boat ramps at Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline Park in Oakland remain closed.

Middle Harbor and Encinal Beach were immediately closed following the spill as a precaution. However, consistently throughout the incident, little to no oil was observed at either location. The numbers of oiled or dead birds found at both locations was very low and very few have been seen. The Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) representatives at Incident Command were not recommending continued closure. Both areas are now open to the public. The California Department of Fish and Game continues to ban fishing from Alameda Point at the northwest end of Alameda Island to the southern point of Bay Farm Isle (Oakland Airport). All other areas are open to fishing. 
 

Crown Memorial State Beach was also immediately closed following the spill. This is a popular public water recreation area. On October 31, 2009, one day after the oil spill, tarballs and oil sheen appeared on the southern portion of Crown Beach. Clean-up crews have been active but at a SCAT (Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique) team review this morning, tarballs continue to wash onto shore and have now been found further north along the beach. It is likely that the oil that had accumulated at the south end of the beach, near the Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary, has been remobilized by wind and high tide cycles that occurred yesterday. Since there is good evidence that these conditions will continue for the next several days, Park District staff will keep the beach closed until further notice.  Alameda County Environmental Health concurred with this recommendation. The park, including picnic areas, paved trail and grassy lawn along with Crab Cove Visitor Center remain open, however, access to the beach and mudflats is prohibited.

Boat ramps at Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline park will also remain closed due to the boom that is currently in place. The park itself is open.

Oiled wildlife should be reported to 877-823-6926. The OWCN has several teams rescuing oiled birds and wildlife. No public or volunteer assistance is needed, and OWCN asks that the public refrain from entering the area as this activity severely stresses the wildlife.