BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhuanet) -- The pilot of a container ship that crashed into a bumper of the Bay Bridge and spilled oil into the San Francisco Bay on Nov. 7, 2007, has been charged with criminal negligence and violating environmental laws.

    U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Joseph P. Russoniello announced the charges Monday against John Joseph Cota.

    The charges allege that Cota "negligently" caused the discharge of approximately 58,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil from the Cosco Busan in violation of the Clean Water Act, as amended by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

    According to the charges, while piloting the ship from port in heavy fog, he failed to pilot a collision-free course and failed to adequately review the proposed course with the captain and crew on official navigational charts.

    The charges also accuse Cota of failing to use the ship's radar as he approached the bridge, failing to use positional fixes or verify the ship's position using official aids of navigation.

    According to the charges, those failures led to the Cosco Busan striking the bridge and spilling the oil.

    As a result of the oil spill, approximately 2,000 birds died, including brown pelicans, marbled murrelets and western grebes. The brown pelican is a federally endangered species, and the marbled murrelet is a federally threatened species and an endangered species under California law.

    The maximum penalty for a misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act is one year in prison and a 100,000-U.S.-dollar fine.

    (Agencies)