Getting the Busan ready for the long journey home. Most of the patching job should be done by now.

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed suit this morning against a host of players involved with the Cosco Busan oil spill. It's nice to know that our top legal eagle is a "former maritime attorney, and appointee to the U.S. Maritime Administration in Washington, D.C., during President Clinton’s Administration." That experience might come in handy before all this is done.

In related news, the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun alleges the pilot aboard the Busan ordered "full speed" shortly before the allision when visibility was about a tenth of a mile. Of course, that's just the "accusation" and it's way early to have all the info needed to apportion blame among the players involved. Respected commenter and California Insider Daniel Weintraub wonders why legislators have said relatively little about the one person involved who was the most responsible for what happened: the pilot. [Free registration, by the way] But at least one Assemblymember has spoken out to say that he thinks Captain Cota is being "set up.". Interesting.

Also, word comes from gCaptain about a new animation of the path of the Busan.

And speaking of petroluem oozing out where it doesn't belong, check out some South Koreans dealing with an Exxon Valdez caliber oil spill here Now, that's an oil spill. Things could have been much worse for us. Are we ready for the next major spill?

More on our new lawsuit after the jump.

From the horse's mouth:

“This was a wholly avoidable incident that has caused more injury to the San Francisco Bay Area than we can yet begin to fathom,” said Herrera. “It is sad to say that there has been a grave amount of damage that has occurred because of this catastrophe, imposing an unjust and heavy burden on the residents of San Francisco and other cities and counties in the Bay Area. In filing our case against the parties responsible for this incident, we can start to recoup the monetary costs and resource damage that this disaster has imposed and begin the healing process for the waters of the Bay and its surrounding areas.”

The case is called "CCSF vs.Regal Stone, Ltd; Fleet Management Ltd; Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd; Synergy Management Services; Synergy Marine Limited; John J. Cota, an individual, and Does One Through 100" with San Francisco represented by Dennis Herrera, Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart, Donald Margolis, and Thomas Lakritz.

Synopsis:

"At 8:30 a.m. on November, 7, 2007, in violation of safe operating regulations prohibiting vessels from sailing in dangerously foggy conditions, John J. Cota, the pilot of the Cosco Busan, negligently attempted to make the routine passage from the Port of Oakland toward the open sea beyond the Golden Gate Bridge on its voyage to South Korea. While navigating the ship through two bases of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge set at a distance of 2,200 feet apart, Mr. Cota failed to clear one of the towers and collided with it causing a gash in the hull of the ship, allowing the bunker fuel to gush into the waters of the Bay.

As a result of the incident, numerous San Francisco beaches, including Baker Beach, China Beach and Crissy Field, were deemed unsafe because of the toxic fuel and San Francisco residents and visitors were subsequently unable to visit and enjoy these public recreational areas. Waters within and around the Bay were closed and crabbing and fishing restricted during a season that is traditionally marked as one of the most profitable times of the year.

The City alleges that parties responsible for the spill were negligent in operating the Cosco Busan, by neglecting to follow normal procedures that would have prevented the incident. By attempting to sail the ship in the Bay in foggy conditions; proceeding on a course in the Bay with insufficient information about the level of visibility; proceeding at a speed that was excessive for the circumstances; not using the available resources to ensure safety and minimize the risk of accident, including a tugboat, the Vessel Traffic Service of the Coast Guard, and the ship’s lookout; and failing to be fully acquainted with and able to operate the ship’s navigation system, the owners and operators of the ship put San Francisco in grave danger.

The suit additionally alleges that after the collision, ship owners and operators violated theLempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act, under which they are absolutely liable, by failing to respond appropriately to the spill. Defendants are subject to civil penalties of between $25,000 and $500,000 for each day in which a violation occurred. The City will additionally seek compensation for the taxpayer dollars spent in managing the clean-up effort in the days following the spill, including response activities; committing the time and labor of city employees to clean up and assess damage to property; and recruiting, training and supervising volunteers to perform cleanup efforts to save natural resources, including beaches and wildlife.

The case is CCSF vs.Regal Stone, Ltd; Fleet Management Ltd; Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd; Synergy Management Services; Synergy Marine Limited; John J. Cota, an individual, and Does One Through 100."