A class action lawsuit was filed against those who are responsible for the oil spill that leaked 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the San Francisco Bay last November 7, 2007.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of all the fishermen who have suffered losses due to the spill.
Steve Fitz is a Pillar Point Harbor fisherman who is part of the lawsuit filed last Tuesday against Hanjin Shipping Co. and other principals responsible for the oil spill. The suit was filed by the Burlingame firm, Cotchett, Pitre and McCarthy.
The lawsuit calls the spill a public nuisance and the result of negligence. It seeks unspecified damages to all the fishermen affected. It also seeks environmental monitoring so that none of this will happen again in the future.
Fitz is an El Granada resident who has been a commercial fisherman for 35 years, says the complaint. He fishes for crab out of the harbor using his own Mr. Morgan out of Pillar Point since 1989.
Because of the spill, the crab season has been delayed as fishermen fear that any crab found to be tainted by oil could devastate consumer confidence.