Feds Charge Hong Kong Company in Toxic Oil Spil

The federal government has charged a Hong Kong based shipping company with falsifying documents relating to the investigation of an oil spill in San Francisco Bay last year. Accoring to an Associated Press report, “Unidentified “senior ship officers and shore-based supervisory officials concealed and covered up documents with an intent to impede, obstruct and influence the investigation of the spill,” according to a Department of Justice summary of the indictment. The indictment also charges Fleet Management with two counts of misdemeanor crimes under the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for negligently causing the crash, which dumped 53,000 gallons of toxic bunker fuel into the bay. The spill killed and injured thousands of birds and fouled beaches throughout Northern California.