Port accident stars on YouTube
Port authorities are trying to find out if the tape is public record or if it is evidence in the port's investigation
By BRIAN EVERSTINE
The News Tribune
Port security grants available to agencies
TACOMA, Wash. — On July 3 a straddle carrier operating at the Port of Tacoma slammed into a pole, knocking it loose from the ground, destroying a curb, shutting down power to local buildings, and causing a minor spill at U.S. Oil and Refining.
 Watch the clip on YouTube |
Two weeks later, someone by the name of "ezlay238" put a security video of the crash on YouTube, a popular video sharing Web site. with a title screen that says, "Life comes at you fast, slow down and enjoy it."
As of 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, the YouTube video had been viewed 3,270 times.
Accompanying the video, a country singer says, "We're going to have a good time," as the large but empty machine slams into the pole. Now the Port of Tacoma is trying to find out how the video made it on to the Internet.
What is it? Video taken from a Port of Tacoma security camera, placed at a terminal operated by Ports America, catches a straddle carrier smashing into a power pole. A straddle carrier is an eight-wheeled machine that stacks shipping containers. Tacoma Power said the machine knocked loose the pole and that the port's engineers were still trying to assess the damage.
Whose tape? The camera belongs to the Port of Tacoma, but as part of the investigation, port officials sent copies to parties involved - including Ports America, insurance companies, Tacoma Power and the longshore union, port spokeswoman Tara Mattina said.
Is that legal? The port is trying to find out if the tape is public record or if it is evidence in the port's investigation. The port is looking into it, and no authorities have been called in.
What's next? The port is trying to find who got the video and how, and what consequences, if any, there will be.
What the port has to say: "We would have concerns about whether one of our employees is posting things. Anytime we have questions about professional behavior of our employees, we certainly take it seriously," Mattina said.
What a port commissioner has to say: "I am just waiting to hear back (about the investigation) To be perfectly honest, I am not that technically proficient," Commission President Dick Marzano said.
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