Criminal Justice
Federal Oil Spill Charges Possible
Federal prosecutors are investigating an oil spill last week in the San Francisco Bay, a move that could signal charges against crew members of the damaged ship that spilled 58,000 gallons of fuel.
The owner of the ship, which hit the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, is Regal Stone of Hong Kong. Its representative, Darrell Wilson, told the New York Times that federal charges are “kind of a given … because of the strict liability laws.”
A lawyer for one of the crew members told the Times that fog had a role in the accident. He said it took more than an hour for government agencies to respond, a charge that the Coast Guard denies.
