Under new legislation announced today by Tampa Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor, 80 percent of the fines and penalties that oil giant BP will be required to pay for their responsibility for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill would go to Gulf Coast states to help re-brand their tourism and seafood industries, as well as provide funding for marine scientists to coordinate research for studying the long term impacts of the spill.
Speaking at a press conference from Tampa's Ballast Point Park, Castor said that the fund could ultimately be anywhere between $5 and $20 billion. The Representative says that the fines and penalties to be paid for by BP for violating the Clean Water Act currently would not go directly to Gulf area states, and thus the need for such legislation.
Keith Overton is the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the TradeWinds Resort and the Chairman of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. He's tussled extensively with Kenneth Fineberg, the government appointed-administrator for the BP Disaster Victim Compensation Fund over the past year. Fineberg. you might recall, originally said that he wouldn't consider claims for compensation for individuals and businesses who geographically were not touched directly by the oil spill, which theoretically would mean resorts and individuals in Pinellas county. But he reversed course in early October, and now will consider such businesses for financial compensation. But Overton said there's still some major issues with that the distribution those funds, such as the fact that he hasn't seen a penny yet for the $1.2 million claim he filed for being deleteriously affected by the spill for 6 months.
"What's strange is that when you to talk to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility and they say we're not paying claim s just yet in that region…yet a property adjoining us has been paid $317,000, and we've been paid nothing. " When CL spoke to Overton directly after the news conference, he said he was referring to the Alden Beach Resort Hotel off of Gulf Blvd.
Overton said that in lieu of receiving any compensation, he's had to make up for the loss of revenue by reducing all his employees paychecks by 6.5 % since the repercussions of the spill began affecting bookings in the spring. There's also the fact that the "brand in Florida has been significantly damaged," Overton said, referring to the tourism industry overall.
Also at the event was Dr. Bob Weisberg, an oceanographer professor from USF. He said that in order to understand our fishery resources, it's important to understand the "interconnections" between the estuary, coastal ocean, and the deep ocean, which requires research and development, and the funding to do that. He said the bill would help "so you can have the tools in place so that if there's ever another environmental consequence that we just suffered, we'll be able to do a much better job of predicting where the oil will go." He added that it could also help scientists to understand Red Tide better, as well as whether the use of dispersants "were a good idea or a bad idea," saying they all required long term scientifically defensible research projects "that must be nurtured and must be funded."
Also at the press conference was Michael Stephens, the general counsel and secretary for Bama Sea Products, which is a large processor of seafood, mostly shrimp purchased throughout the Gulf Coast. He said there has been extensive testing by federal, state and local officials over the last six months, "and all of that research has shown that the seafood coming out of the Gulf is as safe as it's ever been.
" The issue is getting that info to consumers in an effective manner," which he says Castor's bill would do.
The Tampa based Congresswoman said that she believes she can get bi-partisan buy-in, particular from Gulf Coast state members of Congress, and will discuss the legislation soon with Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, as well as Senator-elect Marco Rubio.
Listed below is what Castor's bill calls for:
This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2010.
