The pilot of the cargo ship that spilled 50,000 gallons of oil into the San Francisco Bay in November was criminally charged with misdemeanor violations of the federal Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act on Monday.
The San Jose Mercury News, reports In court documents filed in San Francisco federal court, the government alleges that [John Joseph] Cota triggered the oil spill by failing to steer a "collision-free course," as well as failing to use the ship's radar in approaching the Bay Bridge and not adequately consulting the ship's captain and crew. In addition to the Clean Water Act violations, prosecutors cited Cota for the oil discharge that has been linked to the deaths of about 2,000 birds, including the endangered brown pelican and marbled murrelet.
The article additionally reports that the San Francisco city council has sued for cost of the clean-up, which is nearly complete. I'd be interested to hear from any San Francisco readers as to whether the spill really is mostly cleaned up.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Ship's Pilot Charged in Oil Spill
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2 comments:
Back in the day, a pilot would have been held responsible for "ramming a giant bridge".
These days it seems they are merely at fault for "failing to steer a collision-free course."
If you put all the charges together, it sounds like this guy essentially told everyone else to shut up, turned off all the ship's equipment, put on a blindfold and said "I bet I can get this ship past that bridge without hitting it!"
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