This is a repost of our January 18, 2022 blog post with 2025 updates (at end of blog).
The Standard Oil Spill: Action & the Inspiration of EAC
Volunteers Cleaning up Agate Beach 1971 , Copyright Ilka Hartmann
Oiled bird on Agate Beach 1971, Copyright Ilka Hartmann
On January 18, 1971, two Standard Oil tankers collided near the Golden Gate Bridge, spilling more than 800,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the Pacific Ocean. The spill was catastrophic; heavy, thick oil washed up along beaches in San Francisco and Marin County, suffocating wildlife and destroying habitat.
“Fifty years later, this story is both a powerful reminder of how easily accidents can cause environmental devastation and an inspiring story of the strength of people working together on behalf of the environment”
Thousands of people headed to the beaches throughout the Bay Area to help wildlife and clean up the oil. The thick oil coasted Stinson Beach, Bolinas Beach, Duxbury Reef, R.C.A. beach, and others up the coast. At the time of the spill, neither Standard Oil nor the State of California had protocols or procedures to clean up oil spills. That left the immediate response effort up to the local communities.
Our local communities responded by heading to clean up the beach and rescue oiled birds. Local resident Tom D’Onofrio was an early responder and rallied friends and local businesses to construct a boom across the mouth of Bolinas Lagoon in an effort to stop the oil from entering Bolinas Lagoon. A command and response center was established at the College of Marin Biology Lab (Haworth 2021).
Copyright Ilka Hartmann
We discovered online archival footage captured by Dean and Dudley Evenson, who hitchhiked around the Bay Area to document the spill with their Sony portapack. The footage ranges from Ocean Beach, Marin Audubon, and Stinson Beach.
Another video from the KQED News report from Bolinas on January 21st 1971, features scenes of residents trying to prevent an oil slick from entering the Bolinas lagoon.
Other residents, including Burr Heneman, College of Marin professor Gordon Chan, and members of the Point Reyes Bird Observatory discussed creation of a communications hub. Richardson Bay Audubon Center was eventually selected to organize spill response efforts (Houston 2021).
Bolinas resident, Ilka Hartmann, photographed the spill at R.C.A. beach with her partner Orville Schell, capturing iconic photographs of the scene and Orville’s oil covered fist raised to the sky that was later included in the congressional record of the spill (Haworth 2021).
A special thank you to Ole Schell and Ilka Hartmann for the use of photographs from the 1971 Standard Oil Spill.
Founding of EAC
Jerry Friedman, one of EAC’s founders, was among the first responders to the beach helping to clean up the oil spill. Following the spill, Jerry collaborated with others, including Gordon Ashby, Sim Van der Ryn, Kate Worsley, Marj Stone, and others to form a grassroots local environmental action organization that would soon become EAC.
Ironically, EAC’s early funding came from the compensation funds that Standard Oil provided to people who had helped to clean up the spill on the beach. Those payments from big oil helped to pay the non-profit filing fees for EAC to officially become a 501(c)3 organization. Learn more about EAC’s history here.
Oil Opposition Continues
EAC has continuously opposed offshore oil drilling off Marin’s coast since its founding.
In 2018, we successfully advocated for Marin County’s resolution supporting protection of our ocean and coast from offshore drilling and fracking.
Once again, EAC advocacy led to these protections being further strengthened in 2020 after Marin County adopted an ordinance banning the development of onshore infrastructure for offshore oil and gas without a vote from Marin residents.
However, the fight continues.
In April 2025, The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced its intention to to prepare the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program through a Request for Information. This program would potentially allow offshore drilling activities, like seismic blasting and oil rigs, in the entire Outer Continental Shelf, including in protected areas like National Marine Sanctuaries. More oil drilling would be devastating for our coast, harming wildlife, fisheries, businesses, and communities, all while reversing our efforts to combat climate change.
Environmentalists, business owners, and concerned people across the nation immediately raised the alarm, sending thousands of comments to BOEM. We joined partners in submitting comments in opposition and also secured a letter from Marin County opposing offshore oil drilling in the Pacific.
When BOEM releases its draft proposed program, there will be another 60-day comment period. In a time where the effects of climate change grow ever more extreme, EAC will continue engaging on this issue to oppose such a devastating decision.
Recent News and Learn More:
Trump’s grudge against California could lead to the next major oil spill
Last Chance Alliance’s Action Alert: Take action now to stop Trump’s fossil fuel takeover of CA
