Mar 21, 2008 2:08 pm US/Pacific
Not Guilty Plea From Ship Pilot In Bay Oil Spill
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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John Cota walks with his wife after leaving federal court Friday in San Francisco.
CBS
The pilot of a container ship that spilled thousands of gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay last November pleaded not guilty on Friday to breaking two federal environmental laws.
John Cota, 60, was at the helm of the Cosco Busan when it struck a fender protecting a support tower beneath the Bay Bridge on Nov. 7 -- opening a gash on the ship's side. The ship emptied 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay, killing or injuring thousands of birds, temporarily closing more than a dozen beaches and damaging the local fishing industry.
Cota is charged with a misdemeanor count of killing migratory birds and another misdemeanor charge of illegal dumping. He faces up to 18 months in jail and more than $100,000 in fines if convicted.
During arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Joseph Spero, Cota asked for a jury trial on the charges. He is due back in court April 4 and was allowed to remain free on a $50,000 personal bond.
The criminal charges allege Cota was negligent in several ways.
The alleged negligent actions include failing to review the ship's course and navigational equipment adequately; departing port in heavy fog and then failing to proceed at a safe speed in limited visibility; and failing to use the ship's radar during the final approach to the Bay Bridge.
The ship was on the way from the Port of Oakland to South Korea when it hit the bridge fender.
Outside of court after the hearing, Cota declined to talk to news reporters. But his defense attorney Jeff Bornstein said he was disappointed that prosecutors filed charges.
"This was an accident," Bornstein said. "We expect to present a full defense" to the charges.
He said there were "a lot of factors" in the spill, but declined to give details.
Bornstein also complained that prosecutors decided to file charges before the National Transportation Safety Board completes its investigation.
"The decision to charge him criminally is misguided," said Bornstein. "Capt. Cota feels terrible about what happened. He has grown up on this waterfront."
Cota is also named in a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit accusing him and the ship's owner, Hong Kong-based Regal Stone Ltd., of negligence and seeking compensation for the clean up.
Some 2,000 birds died in the spill, including federally endangered brown pelicans and federally threatened marbled murrelets.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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