Ship's pilot charged in oil spill

<p>The Petaluma ship pilot at the helm when a freighter spilled 58,000 gallons of fuel into San Francisco Bay last November has been charged with criminal negligence and breaking environmental laws.</p><p>Capt. John Cota, 59, faces misdemeanor charges, including harming migrant birds protected by the government.</p><p>He could face up to a year in jail and more than $100,000 in fines if convicted, the Justice Department said.</p><p>The charges, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, accuse Cota of ignoring heavy fog to pilot the ship without designating or reviewing a safe course through the bay with the ship’s crew.</p><p>The government also says Cota “failed to use the ship’s radar as he approached the Bay Bridge” or rely on any other navigational devices that might have helped him steer clear of disaster.</p><p>“These failures led to the Cosco Busan striking the bridge and spilling the oil,” the Justice Department said in a statement.</p><p>As a result of the Cosco Busan spill, an estimated 2,000 birds died, including federally endangered brown pelicans and federally threatened marbled murrelet, which are endangered under California law. The losses also included Western grebes.</p><p>Cota was not taken into custody, according to court papers.</p><p>His attorney, Jeff Bornstein, accused the government of bringing charges before the National Transportation Safety Board concluded its investigation of the crash.</p><p>“Their decision to bring the charges at this time surprises us given the fact that the NTSB is still continuing to really focus on exactly what happened and all the factors that are involved in that,” Bornstein said.</p><p>Bornstein said he was unaware of any similar prosecutions that came “before a finding of exactly what occurred.” “This is something that concerns us,” he said.</p><p>The NTSB plans to hold a public hearing on the case April 8 and 9, where it will hear from experts, and the board anticipates establishing a “probable cause” by the end of 2008.</p><p>On Nov. 7, the 900-foot container ship Cosco Busan under Cota’s control sideswiped the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, opening a gash in its hull and leaking heavy fuel in the worst oil spill in the bay in nearly two decades.</p><p>Cota has been a bar pilot for more than 25 years, guiding hundreds of ships through the bay.</p><p>An attorney for Cota, John Meadows, has denied any misconduct on Cota’s. He said Cota tested negative for alcohol or any illegal drugs after the wreck.</p><p>Since the crash, Cota has surrendered his federal license at the Coast Guard’s request because of questions about his “physical competence,” the agency said. California authorities also suspended his state license.</p><p>The Coast Guard is under investigation over its response to the spill.</p>