Settlement Reached in 2007 Bay Bridge Oil Spill

A civil settlement in the 2007 oil spill in San Francisco Bay with the owners and operators of the M/V Cosco Busan was announced recently.

The settlement resolves all natural resource damages, penalties and response costs that resulted from the ship striking the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in on Nov. 7, 2007, and the subsequent oil spill in the bay, according to California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris.

The event killed thousands of birds, affected a significant portion of the Bay’s 2008 herring spawn, spoiled miles of shoreline habitat and closed the Bay and area beaches to recreation and fishing, according to Harris.

M/V Cosco Busan owner-operators Regal Stone Limited and Fleet Management Ltd. will pay $44.4 million and reimburse the governmental for response costs.