Cosco Busan operator fined $10 million

[alp227]

Source: Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle

(02-19) 17:05 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- The operating company of the container ship that hit the Bay Bridge in November 2007 was fined $10 million Friday for its role in a 53,000-gallon oil spill that fouled miles of shoreline and killed more than 2,400 birds.

Fleet Management Ltd. pleaded guilty in August to a misdemeanor charge of water pollution and two felony counts of filing false documents with the government to conceal its actions. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered the company to pay $8 million to the government and $2 million to a fund for environmental projects in San Francisco Bay.

The sentencing completed criminal proceedings arising from the crash of the Cosco Busan into a tower of the bridge in a thick morning fog on Nov. 7, 2007. Heavy fuel oil reached the bay shoreline and ocean beaches in Marin and San Mateo counties. Government agencies have estimated the cleanup cost at $70 million.

The ship's pilot, John Cota, pleaded guilty to federal pollution charges in March 2009 and was sentenced to 10 months in prison. Federal prosecutors said both Cota and Fleet Management were at fault - the pilot for deciding to sail in the fog and ignoring danger signals, the company for failing to train the crew or notify Cota when the ship went off course.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/19/BA6I1C4FA1.DTL

[panader0]

1. Wait, cleanup cost was 70 mil and the fine was 10 mil?

WTF?
And what about court costs, investigations, etc.? Fine them for the full amount. And then some.

[Turbineguy]

2. Cota didn't deserve that.

or any of the other stuff done to him in the process of working up this "good career move" case.

[greiner3]

3. Hell;

Cosco Busan's CEO will use exxon's attorneys in their Valdez spill case and get this reduced to the cost of a carton of cigarettes; wait, I think that puts it more than the $10 million, DOH!