Oil Spill Losses

What is the BP oil spill going to cost Florida? After the Deepwater Horizon spill, now in day 50, a University of Central Florida economist crunched the numbers and says 39,000 jobs could be cut, mostly in tourism and fisheries and $2.2 billion economic impact. Remember that Florida is already seeing about 12 % unemployment – one of the worst in the nation. And the state’s budget shortfall for next year was estimated to be $6 billion.

Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday activated a loan program in the state that will allow small businesses to tap into up to $25,000 to offset oil spill economic losses in Florida. And the governor has asked for another $200 million from BP that would go for advertising to lure tourists to Florida and to conduct monitoring of the spill. So far, the Tallahassee paper reports that BP has cut about 1,600 checks totaling $5 million to out of work Floridians with most checks coming in under $5,000.

A BP VP says that the company has paid out about $48 million through its 25 claims offices that have opened, 10 of them in Florida.

Let’s all hope that the current does not bring the oil to the Atlantic coast beaches.

Meanwhile, one animals.change.org report says that BP is escorting reporters off the beach who want to take pictures of the oil-soaked animals. The death toll so far estimated by the Fish and Wildlife Services is 527 birds, 235 sea turtles and 30 mammals, including dolphins. The New York Daily News is reporting that BP contractors have been ordered not to share their pictures of the dead, dying and injured wildlife.

“They know the ocean will wipe away most of the evidence” one reporter told the paper.

Tar balls and clumps of tar were reported to be washing up on white-sand beaches around Pensacola last week and now come reports that some small specks of oil have been seen as far west as Fort Walton, Beach.

However, based on Wall Street Journal article, Pensacola Beach has been hardest hit with a sheen of oil reported about one to seven miles off shore as of Saturday, June 5. Volunteers are roaming the coast with good intentions and gloves and garbage bags trying to gather what they can of the oil. Escambia County has about 36 miles of beach along the coast and more oil is expected over the next three days, according to the Florida Deepwater Horizon Response team, which is located in Tallahassee.

Even singer Jimmy Buffet was in Pensacola Beach Saturday. He plans to open a 162-room Margaritaville Hotel in a week. The plans are still a go, he said Saturday.

A commissioner for Escambia County, which includes Pensacola Beach call BP’s promise to spare no effort in helping his area deal with the oil spill “absolutely false.” Gene Valentino said the BP cleanup effort so far is inadequate, though the company is training volunteers and local residents in cleanup.

Escambia County is seeking reimbursement for the $3 million it’s spent on cleanup so far from a $25 million fund set up by BP, a woefully inadequate amount before we see the light of day through the crude oil polluting the Gulf.

On Sunday, June 6, Escambia County officials said they want BP to step aside and let the county deal with its own cleanup. Two protests took place in Pensacola Sunday against BP including vigil for the 11 workers who lost their lives when the Deepwater rig exploded April 20.

Recent satellite imagery shows a narrow bank of oil within the Loop Current which is current that could carry oil around the southern part of the state and up the east coast of Florida.

As of last Wednesday, the oil had washed up on 140 miles of Louisiana shore.

The timing for Florida couldn’t be worse as this is the beginning of the tourist season just as school is letting out. It is unclear at this time just how severe oil spill economic loss in Florida will be.

And to add fuel to the fire of resentment toward oil companies and the president, federal regulators on Wednesday June 2, approved a new Gulf of Mexico oil well, the first since the president lifted a ban on drilling in shallow water while extending the ban on well deeper than 500 feet of water.

British Petroleum is making a peace offering to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who is working with Visit Florida to brainstorm an ad campaign to keep tourists flocking to Florida beaches. Florida officials are reportedly disappointed that the BP grant is only for $25 million, according to a St. Petersburg Times report.

In a statement, Crist bragged that “Florida continues to be a great value for families, business travelers, and international visitors seeking an enjoyable vacation experience. In spite of negative images and reports people may be hearing about Florida’s beaches and fishing grounds, this campaign will tell the world how they can see live images of Florida beaches and businesses.”

Given that oil is still spewing from the Gulf Coast oil spill disaster with no immediate end in sight as BP unsuccessfully tries capping and containment operations, the President is sending out another signal. Standing with former Senator Bob Graham, who opposes drilling, the president vowed to punish those responsible for the worse environmental catastrophe in history.

But Mr. Obama signaled he wants to make drilling for oil safer, not prohibit it. And President Obama is disappointing many by saying that no new drilling will take place until new regulations are put in place that would prevent any future catastrophes.

That is a disappointment to U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor from Tampa who has said that building rigs close to Florida’s beaches appears to be a dead proposition. Sen. Bill Nelson said, “The White House needs to bag this ill-advised plan to expand drilling in new areas along the Gulf Coast.” Nelson notes that the Gulf only contains about three percent of the world’s oil, not enough to even put a dent in our dependence on foreign oil.

Some Florida Coast oil spill lawyers and residents of the state have questioned whether or not there will ever be enough trust in another giant oil company to allow drilling off U.S. shores. And eventually, one day when the leak in the Gulf is stopped, that will be the question before a presidential study commission, co-chaired by Sen. Graham and former Environmental Protection Agency director William Reilly. Lifting a moratorium on future drilling would require cooperation from Congress.

Crude oil circulating in the Gulf of Mexico from an explosion last month has entered the Loop Current that runs counterclockwise around the tip of Florida. The word comes from the European Space Agency that looks at the earth from space via ESA satellites, according to a report. This is the first visible proof that oil has reached the current.

There was hope Florida might be spared, but entry into the Loop means the oil is likely to reach our shores within six days. The Loop waters are warm and intense and will force the mixing of oil and water. The fear is that it will remove the oil from the surface and make it more difficult to see from space. The Loop Current enters the Gulf Stream, which is the most important ocean current system in the northern hemisphere. That has everyone fearing that the crude oil in Florida could end up traveling up the East Coast. No one really knows what will happen in this unprecedented environmental disaster caused by U.S. consumer’s reliance on crude oil and the greedy companies that pushed the limits of their capacity to try and deliver it.

Ironically, BP had executives on the deck of the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon off-shore oil rig on the day that it exploded April 22 killing 11 workers. They were there to sign off on a job well done with no casualties after seven years in operation. Instead 210,000 barrels of crude continue to spew in the Gulf every day as the company still has not figured out how to reverse the mess and retrieve the crude. With nothing certain here, some experts say the rate flow cold be far in excess of what BP says and at ten times that much. Florida oil spill attorneys will continue to monitor the latest updates regarding clean-up of the spill as well as providing potential solutions to economic loss and damage.

The Mississippi Bar Disaster Legal Information Guide has some good advice if you have been impacted by the Gulf oil spill. This could include business owners, hotel and restaurant owners, fishermen, and excursion operators, among others.

First, be sure any person who contacts you tells you and shows you who they are and who they work for. Ask for verification. It’s important to weed out those people who may have a strictly financial interest in you. The guide says, “Do not assume any individual is looking out for your best interest.”

The guide tells people that lawyers or someone representing a lawyer, may try to sign you up as a client, or an insurance company may try to settle your claim and they may ask you to sign something. This document could affect your legal rights! Please be very careful about saying anything or signing anything that may affect your legal rights, especially someone whose advice you have not sought. A red flag should go up if someone says they can promise you a payment of a given sum of money.

From an ethical standpoint, it is improper for a lawyer or their representative to contact you directly, in-person, by telephone or e-mail. The guide suggests if you had a lawyer who previously represented you in an accident, such as a car crash, or a Florida personal injury attorney, contact him or her immediately for advice. At least you already have a relationship with that person. Or check the Florida Bar Association for a member of the Bar in your area.

Remember, a lawyer licensed to practice in Mississippi, for example, cannot practice law in Florida, unless he or she is licensed to do so. Make sure they are licensed to practice law in the state where you have suffered your damages. Not only do they have access to the courts there but that person should understand the laws of your state.

Florida officials want to remind the public that Florida beaches are still open for business and that the Florida waters in the Gulf remain open to commercial and recreational fishing. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is in the process of identifying the most vulnerable fish and wildlife habitats to focus protective measures while they establish a baseline for measuring any damage later on. Gulf spill losses are already affecting the livelihoods of the tourism related business as well as commercial fishermen, guides and charter boat operators.

The latest worry concerns the chemical dispersant being used in the Gulf and questions whether it will lead to long-lasting environmental disaster. Based on a St. Petersburg Times report, shrimpers believe that a series of dead zones could be created by the chemical dispersants, contaminating and killing marine life. One group in particular, the Tarpon Springs based Southern Shrimper Alliance has written their concerns to the federal officials. The dispersant in question is called Corexit 9500 made by Nalco Energy Services. BP has been spraying it on the slick and airplanes have sprayed 315,000 gallons on the gulf’s surface. The dispersant breaks up the oil into finely dispersed oil droplets taking it to the Gulf floor, being eaten by fish, oil-eating bacteria or coating fish and birds.

The shrimpers are concerned that the oil could end up on the Gulf floor where shrimp larvae would be affected. And there have been no toxicity studies on the product or studies on how it could affect wetlands, marine life, the coast or people. Corexit 9500 has been approved by the EPA, but so have many other chemicals that undergo no safety tests. There are indicators that the chemical can be stored in tissues. It really comes down to a question of saving the beach at the expense of the ocean, says the National Academy of Sciences. A consortium of attorneys concludes that there is no way of knowing now what the long-term effects will be for sea life and humans. If you have experienced economic loss due to the oil spill in the Gulf Coast, you may want to contact an oil spill disaster Florida lawyer for more information about your legal rights.