Alex Sink is Florida’s chief financial officer but it doesn’t take a state official to figure out that the state should sell off its 15 million shares of BP stock. The stock is plunging as the Gulf of Mexico is filling with crude oil. Florida has already lost more than $21 million from selling the BP stock it owned that was devalued since the April 20th Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. The state had the rest in the state pension fund which has lost more than $64 million or about 40% of its value, says The Palm Beach Post. The BP stock accounts for about one-tenth of one percent of the total pension fund value. The State Board of Administration manages the state’s $114 billion pension fund, and Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum are SBA trustees along with Sink. No one wants to force a sale of BP stock preferring to leave it up to fund managers. The pension systems heavily invested in BP – Louisiana Municipal Police Employees Retirement System and the New Orleans City Employees Retirement system – have both filed suit against BP.
As of Wednesday morning, June 16, the stock’s value sank to a near 14-year low of $29.58 with the value rising slightly at the end of the day to $31.85.
Remember the Exxon Valdez tanker accident that spilled 11 million gallons into the Alaskan shoreline? That stock has increased ten-fold since 1989, 21 years after the accident. Do we believe that the Gulf of Mexico and the shoreline of Louisiana, Alabama and Florida will return to their pre-spill condition in 21 years? Probably not.
If you or a loved one has been injured or suffered damages due to the BP oil spill, you may have a claim that could include property damage, wrongful death or injuries, lost employment or business losses. Our Florida BP oil spill lawyers are dedicated to helping you recover from substantial losses.
