I attended one of the 4 hour trainings (a shortened hazmat training that gives you a "free" ticket into the SF Bay oil spill cleanup official cleanup efforts) got on the list for the city of Berkeley cleanup, and did my first official shift on Saturday morning. Our team of 13 (2 with previous experience) headed down to the beach at Ashby. With a few hours to work before the tide came in, we suited up in our white Tyvex (petroleum-based) hazmat outfits and got to work. (one tip if you go out, use the restroom just before you put on that suit and get duct taped in!) So we're not allowed to climb on the rocks (safety issues) but this is where the main conglomerations of oil remain... what to do? climb in and around the rocks of course... i found the work strangely satisfying as my gloves and suit got browner and dirtier while i maneuvered around and wiped blobs of oil off the rocks (with burlap sacks, alas no hairmats!) and picked up trash, sticks and seaweed covered in oil. Afterwards, we went back to the nature center and were provided with pizza, salad and cookies, and encouraged to come back for another shift if we had the time and energy. I met some great people who really care about the environment (students and retired folks mostly), and it made me wonder how much more could be done to organize, direct and sustain the energy of folks who come together in these chaotic disaster situations. The community has been galvanized into action, and there doesn't seem to be a viable structure to hold it together and make use of the lessons learned.