Where There's a Spill There's a Way

I'm not the only one bemoaning the fate of my beautiful Bay. The MoJo blog today is saying this was one tragedy that could have been avoided. Let us count the ways. As the blog post notes:

Bottom line is, the spread of the spill was preventable. We have the technology and the wherewithal to respond to minor spills and contain them, and didn't. And that we didn't do so in a major metropolitan area with vast resources at our disposal (and it's not the first time) is less than encouraging.

Of course, this doesn't make me feel better, it makes me feel worse. If the most enlightened of cities can't get this right, is there really hope for disasters anywhere else?