Bay spill pilot will not testify

The attorney for the pilot of the freighter that spilled 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay is blaming the Coast Guard and others for the mishap and said Friday that his client will refuse to testify next week at a government hearing investigating the crash.

Federal prosecutors charged Capt. John Cota last month with environmental crimes stemming from the Nov. 7 incident, when the Cosco Busan sideswiped a support tower of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in heavy fog.

Cota’s lawyer, Jeff Bornstein, said the Coast Guard had the responsibility to track the ship and warn the pilot a crash was imminent. “They had the last clear chance to avoid the accident,” he said outside court after a May 27 trial date was set for his client. “To put all the blame on Capt. Cota is unfair and unjust.”

Cota also has said the radar on the Cosco Busan was unreliable and there was confusion about symbols on at least one of the navigational charts.