BP tries to slip away
Slippery BP is trying to escape having to pay any future claims on losses caused by its devastating oil spill last year.
The company insists everything in the Gulf of Mexico is just fine, scarcely a year after its Deepwater Horizon rig off Louisiana exploded, killing 11 workers and spewing 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf over three months.
It is an absurd claim and should be summarily dismissed by Kenneth Feinberg, the attorney assigned by the federal government to administer claims filed by parties who say they were harmed by the spill.
Louisiana's fishing industry and the Florida Panhandle hotels were hard-hit, and the extent of economic and environmental damage is still being determined.
Many businesses report continuing effects, including the reluctance by some consumers to buy Gulf seafood.
There is no question the Gulf is in far better shape than it was a year ago.
But fishermen report things don't seem right in the Gulf. University of South Florida researchers are working with commercial fishermen to determine the cause of lesions and "fin rot" in fish that may be occurring more frequently than usual.
Miles of coastal marshland appear distressed, and the growth of marine vegetation, including seaweed, has slowed in certain areas.
USF marine scientist David Hollander says a "dirty blizzard" of material sank to the ocean floor, smothering much of the marine life. There are reports of deformed tiny organisms. Nobody knows how many fish, shrimp, turtles, birds, dolphins and other creatures were killed.
The long-term impact of all this on Gulf-dependent industries is impossible to determine. For BP to act as if the Gulf is as healthy as ever and the company has no more obligations is ridiculous.
As Florida Sen. Bill Nelson aptly put it, "BP doesn't need to be protected from the citizenry. It's the other way around."
Fellow Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also hit the right note at a public hearing in Pensacola last week: "BP, from a corporate perspective, is trying to get out of here as quickly as they can … and I think it is incumbent on us policymakers to make sure that doesn't happen and that BP fulfills its obligations to this region."
Unfortunately, BP has already gotten something of a pass from Gov. Rick Scott, who has not yet pursued legal action for the damage suffered by the state because of the spill. The governor seems to trust the company to make good on lost sales taxes, bed taxes, reduced property values and environmental damage that resulted from the spill, but so far the state has received a pittance. Attorney Steve Yerrid, who was the special counsel on the spill for former Gov. Charlie Crist, says the state should receive upward of $2 billion. Scott has accepted $30 million. Getting more is not going to be easy.
As its latest bid to block the claims of individuals harmed by the spill underscores, BP is going to do what it can to limit its exposure.
Far more research is needed before BP should be able to slam the door on claimants. Florida leaders should fight this ruse and hold the corporation accountable for the pain, misery and financial loss it has caused the state's residents.