Digital News Report- John Joseph Cota, the pilot who steered a container ship into the San Bay Bridge and causing a 53,000 gallon oil spill in 2007, plead guilty to violating misdemeanor pollution laws. He could face up to 10 months in prison and a $30,000 fine for violating the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Sentencing will begin on June 19th.
“Today’s guilty plea is a reminder that the Cosco Busan crash was not just an accident, but a criminal act,” said John C. Cruden, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. According to his attorney, Cota has piloted about 4,000 ships in the bay during his 27-year career.
Federal prosecutor Jonathan Schmidt “Captain Cota did not adequately review his intended course with the crew,” and didn’t use his radar as they approached the bridge.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) “a medically unfit pilot, an ineffective master, and poor communications between the two,” were the factors in the crash. Costa was also on medication.
Acting NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker stated, “How a man who was taking a half-dozen impairing prescription medications got to stand on the bridge of a 68,000-ton-ship and give directions to guide the vessel through a foggy bay and under a busy highway bridge is very troubling.”
The 900-foot Cosco Busan that Cota was piloting slammed into the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge during heavy fog. Cleanup costs have been estimated at more than $70 million. Thousands of birds were killed or injured in the aftermath and beaches suffered. The fishing industry was also disrupted as a result of the oil.
“Captain Cota has been vilified by the media, lost his job, will now go to jail for at least 60 days, and still suffers under the weight of crushing civil lawsuits,” Cota’s attorny said. “Even today, there continues to be sensational accusations about his prescription medications.”