December 13, 2005 Field Trip - The CRS at 5.94 feet

In a trial, experts are called to explain complicated issues to the jurors.  However, it doesn't take an expert to know that the Conner Recovery Site on April 13, 2003 didn't look anything like People's 100.  In these next few articles, I'll publish photos and videos of the CRS at various water levels at or very near to the 5.88 feet experienced on April 13, 2003.  Most of these have been on SII for years, but it is time to refresh the memories of those who have already seen them, and present them new for those who haven't.

Water Levels 
April 13, 2003
6-minute verified water levels for Richmond station 9414863 for April 13, 2003.

9414863 20030413 10:00    5.44    5.86
9414863 20030413 10:06    5.43    5.88
9414863 20030413 10:12    5.41    5.88
9414863 20030413 10:18    5.38    5.83

December 13, 2005
The field trip on December 13, 2005 is a good place to start because I arrived at the CRS (I refer to it in the video as "the jetty") at 7:42 a.m., when the water level had already exceeded the 5.88 ft recorded and verified on April 13, 2003.  As I approached the site from the same position that People's 100 was taken, I used my JVC camcorder to capture the entire site on a video.  

The Richmond 9414863 station was down on December 13, so I had to calculate water levels from the San Francisco 9414290 station using the formula NOAA used to calculate the 2005 predictions:


2005 NOAA Tide Predictions: Chevron Oil Company Pier, Richmond

(Reference station: San Francisco, Corrections Applied: Times: High +0 hr. 24 min., Low +0 hr. 38 min., Heights: High *1.04, Low *0.98)

Using San Francisco's verified 6-minute water level data, I added 24 minutes to San Francisco's times and multiplied by 1.04 to calculate the water level:  7:18 + 24 = 7:42; 5.71 * 1.04 = 5.94.

9414290 20051213 07:12    5.67    5.62         7:36  5.84   

9414290 20051213 07:18    5.76    5.71         7:42  5.94

                                                                        7:43  5.94

                                                                        7:47  5.94

9414290 20051213 07:24    5.83    5.71         7:48  5.94

The difference between 5.94 and 5.88 is about 3/4 of an inch.

January 10, 2004
On January 10, 2004, Distaso, Harris, and Grogan arrived at the CRS at 12:44 and left at 1:15. The 6-minute verified water level data for Richmond shows that the HH tide peaked at 1:00 at a water level of 6.39 feet.

9414863 20040110 12:42    6.20    6.37
9414863 20040110 12:48    6.20    6.37
9414863 20040110 12:54    6.20    6.37
9414863 20040110 13:00    6.20    6.39
9414863 20040110 13:06    6.19    6.38
9414863 20040110 13:12    6.17    6.36
9414863 20040110 13:18    6.15    6.35

Comparison
April 13, 2003:  5.88 feet
Dec 13, 2005:   5.94 feet
Jan 10, 2004:    6.39 feet

It doesn't take an expert to know that the water level on December 13,2005 is representative of the water level on April 13,2003, NOT the water level on Jan 10, 2004.

Wind Conditions
The wind conditions on April 13, 2003 were quite gusty, but on both January 10, 2004 and December 13, 2005 the winds were calm.  I'm using the wind conditions as reported by the BAAQMD, which has a monitoring station at the UC Berkeley Richmond Field Station.  BAAQMD does not adjust for DST, so we have to remember to add one hour to the times for April. BAAQMD provides hourly readings, with maximum gusts and wind direction in degrees (convert to Cardinal directions).

April 13, 2003
High tide peaked at 10:06-10:12 a.m.
9:00 a.m.:  speed 11 mph; gusts 18 mph; direction 186 degrees (South)
10:00 a.m.:  speed 14 mph; gusts 23 mph; direction 180 degrees (South)
11:00 a.m.:  speed 14 mph; gusts 23 mph; direction 169 degrees (South)

January 10, 2003
High tide peaked at 1:00 p.m.
12:00 Noon: speed 7 mph; gusts 14 mph; direction 68 degrees (ENE)
1:00 p.m.: speed 7 mph; gusts 14 mph; direction 82 degrees (East)
2:00 p.m.: speed 6 mph; gusts 11 mph; direction 90 degrees (East)

December 13, 2005
Time of video 7:42 a.m.
7:00 a.m.:  speed 7 mph; gusts 10 mph; direction 346 degrees (NNW)
8:00 a.m.:  speed 5 mph; gusts 9 mph; direction 342 degrees (NNW)

December 13 and January 10 are nearly identical in wind speed and gusts.  Other field trips I've taken captured the site at wind conditions much nearer to April 13, 2003, and those will be reviewed in the upcoming days.

People's 100 compared to December 13, 2005
First, a look again at People's 100, with it's 6.39 feet verified water level.  The photograph was taken at the point where the beach leads onto the mudflat.

The video taken on December 13, 2005, beginning at 7:42 a.m., with a calculated water level of 5.94 feet, higher than the 5.88 feet water level verified for April 13, 2003.  The little puddles you see on the path are from the previous day's HH tide of 6.79 feet.  The HH tide on the 13th would peak out at 6.74 feet at 9:30 a.m.  It's quite apparent that the difference between a 5.94 water level and a 6.39 water level is very significant.  Using People's 100 to represent the CRS on the day Conner was found amounts to fraud.  

For more videos and pictures of this December 13, 2005 field trip, please visit SII at this link.