Federal and California state authorities announced Monday a $44.5 million settlement with the owner of the container vessel Cosco Busan to cover the cleanup costs and environmental damage caused when the vessel hit a Bay Area bridge in November 2007 and leaked more than 53,000 gallons of diesel fuel into San Francisco Bay.
The US Department of Justice, the state of California, the city and county of San Francisco and the city of Richmond, California, signed and lodged a consent decree that requires Regal Stone Limited and Fleet Management Ltd., the owners and operators of the M/V Cosco Busan, to pay $44.4 million for natural resource damages and penalties and to reimburse the governmental entities for response costs incurred as a result of the Cosco Busan allision and subsequent leak.
The federal and state natural resource trustees estimate that the Cosco Busan spill killed 6,849 birds, impacted 14 to 29 percent of the herring spawn that winter, oiled 3,367 acres of shoreline habitat and resulted in the loss of more than one million recreational user-days.
A result of a multi-governmental effort by federal and state agencies, and municipal governments, the settlement is expected to fully compensate (in addition to previously reimbursed costs) for the natural resources and other damages and costs resulting from the spill.
The portion of the settlement for lost human uses of the shoreline and the bay, $18.8 million, constitutes one of the largest human use recoveries for any oil spill in the United States. Of this, the National Park Service is receiving approximately $9.75 million to improve coastal access and facilities in the bayside, coastal and estuarine areas of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and Point Reyes National Seashore.
The remaining $9 million will be disbursed either directly to local government as part of the consent decree or through a grant program to fund shoreline recreational projects throughout the impacted spill areas.
"With this settlement, we are seeing to it that those responsible for the spill are held accountable and that they pay their share for restoring and improving our precious natural resources and public lands," US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said during a press conference on Treasure Island overlooking the site of the 2007 incident.
Showing posts with label COSCO Busan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label COSCO Busan. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
COSCO Busan Pilot Freed From Custody
The pilot who was at the helm of the COSCO Busan when the container vessel struck the Oakland Bay Bridge in November 2007 and leaked more than 53,000 gallons of diesel oil into San Francisco Bay, has been released from custody after serving a 10-month sentence.
John Cota was released on Aug. 16 after serving four months in a minimum-security facility in Arizona, five months in a San Francisco halfway house and a month under home confinement.
Cota, who faced numerous federal charges in the wake of the Busan allision and subsequent fuel oil leak that killed thousands of birds, closed dozens of beaches and affected local commercial fishing, eventually pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges related to illegal dumping and killing of federally-protected birds. Under the plea agreement, federal prosecutors dropped more serious charges that Cota lied to US Coast Guard officials about his medical condition.
As part of his 2009 sentence, Cota will now face a year of supervised release under which he will be restricted from leaving the state.
A National Transportation Safety Board review of the incident concluded that Cota's use of a wide variety of prescriptions drugs led to an impaired condition that resulted in the Busan's allision with the bridge in heavy fog.
The Coast Guard pulled Cota's pilot's license shortly after the Busan incident and Cota formally resigned as a pilot in 2008.
John Cota was released on Aug. 16 after serving four months in a minimum-security facility in Arizona, five months in a San Francisco halfway house and a month under home confinement.
Cota, who faced numerous federal charges in the wake of the Busan allision and subsequent fuel oil leak that killed thousands of birds, closed dozens of beaches and affected local commercial fishing, eventually pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges related to illegal dumping and killing of federally-protected birds. Under the plea agreement, federal prosecutors dropped more serious charges that Cota lied to US Coast Guard officials about his medical condition.
As part of his 2009 sentence, Cota will now face a year of supervised release under which he will be restricted from leaving the state.
A National Transportation Safety Board review of the incident concluded that Cota's use of a wide variety of prescriptions drugs led to an impaired condition that resulted in the Busan's allision with the bridge in heavy fog.
The Coast Guard pulled Cota's pilot's license shortly after the Busan incident and Cota formally resigned as a pilot in 2008.
