Newest Oil Spill, Alaska

Hey, I just heard about this on the news...anyone have any good information on the Tanker spill up on Unalaska Island?

I hear it's supposed to be as bad/worse than the Exxon/Valdez spill. Info about the cleanup operation is also appreciated. Hell, I'd freeze my ass of to help clean up those animals...only problem is I can't afford to get there.

In addition to all the crew deaths involved, there is 500k gallons of of bunker oil on board the ship, which broke in half. It does not look good for the wildlife- Unalaska Island is home to numerous birds, sea otters, and sea lions. It is still too soon to accurately access damage...another enviromental catastrophe falls upon us here in Alaska.

Any links for this. I tried Reuters and a few other sources...nada.

A US Coast Guard helicopter has crashed into the Bering Sea with 10 people on board during the attempted rescue of the crew of a stricken freighter.
Four of those on board have been picked up and taken to hospital but six are unaccounted for, the Coast Guard said.

The 40,000-ton Malaysian-registered freighter Selendang Ayu ran aground on Unalaska Island, in the Aleutian chain off south-western Alaska.

The island is a sensitive wildlife habitat and crab fishery.

The Coast Guard said the freighter had subsequently broken in two, but one of its rescue swimmers remained on board along with the master of the vessel.

The freighter's main engine broke down on Tuesday. The ship was carrying soya beans on a trans-Pacific voyage, reportedly to Japan, and also had 440,000 gallons of fuel on board.

The Coast Guard said it was bringing oil containment equipment to Unalaska Island's Dutch Harbor to contain any spill.

news.bbc.co.uk...

CAPE COD, Mass. (Dec. 1, 2004)--Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew A. O'Dell, an Air Station Cape Cod rescue swimmer, is deployed to a 47-foot boat from Station Merrimack River. The stations teamed up yesterday to conduct search and rescue hoist training at the head of the Merrimack River. Boat and air crews need to maintain recurrent training for qualification standards. USCG photo by PA3 Lisa Hennings

....

Cool.

I'm also looking for some info about what is being done to help preserve the environment, IE, who is getting involved in the cleanup, what does the timescale look like, etc, etc.