FloridaTreeHugger

Approximately 70 local business owners gathered in Pink Shell’s Lido Room last Thursday evening to hear a presentation given by the law firm Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart and Shipley concerning the BP claims process. The Greater Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce’s lawfirm – Knott, Consoer, Ebelini, Hart & Swett – invited the east coast firm because of their vast experience handling mass tort cases.

Panama City Beach native, Cal Werner, the firm’s representative, began by telling the group that the Deepwater Horizon spill will end up being the biggest disaster anyone has ever seen.

“BP has not been telling the truth about how much oil is coming out of the well, about how toxic the mixure of oil and dispersants is, about where it is and where it’s going – nothing,” he said. “So nobody really knows how it’s all going to shake out.”

Werner then gave a little background information on the law and how it relates to oil spills, including a new ruling made two weeks ago by the Florida Supreme Court that opens the door to many new claims.

“The controlling legislation governing an oil spill of this magnitude is the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990,” he said. “This law, set up after Exxon Valdez, designates a ‘responsible party’ who will be held liable for damages associated with the spill – that party is BP. OPA also created the national Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, administered by the National Pollution Funds Center through the Coast Guard, which accepts applications from people whose claims have been denied by BP.”

“Two weeks ago, the Florida Supreme Court made a landmark decision when they ruled that people can make a legal claim for economic damages resulting from pollution,” he continued.

For those who don’t want to litigate, Werner explained that BP has agreed to contribute $20 billion over a 4-year period at a rate of $5 billion a year.

“Originally, BP set up an ‘Interim Claims Process’, with claims offices all over the Gulf states where they were giving away the $75 million that they had promised to cover,” he said. “Now that President Obama has forced them to agree to set up a $20 billion fund for non-litigation resolution of claims, it is likely that those interim claims will be melded into the bigger fund, so those offices may go away when the fund gets set up – people will have to file directly. That fund will be administered by Kenneth Feinberg, an attorney who handled payments to victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.”

The most important thing to have when you go to file your claim, said Werner, is documentation. He handed out a two-page list (to download the list in PDF form for printing, go to www.islandsandpaper.com, or come by the Sand Paper office for a copy) of suggested materials for people to have on hand when they prepare to file. The list includes items like tax returns from 2007-2009, copies of letters of business cancellations caused by spill damage, daily records of personnel costs, copies of pay stubs/receipts from before and after the spill, pictures or video footage from before and after the spill and monthly income statements.

Another member of the Searcy lawfirm then urged business owners to take a look at their insurance policy and talk to their agents to see if there is coverage that is applicable to the oil disaster, and if not, if there’s still time to get it.

Finally, Werner summed up what the choices are for people who want to file a claim.

“There’s the large fund that hasn’t been set up yet, there’s the BP Interim Claims Process, the Trust Fund or litigation,” he said. “I think that, more than likely, the best opportunity to get reimbursed is through the claims process – the litigation on this is going to be huge – it’s already bigger than our firm – and will go on forever.”

After Werner finished, Tony Cirrillo from Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink’s office handed out a flyer with phone numbers and websites for filing claims: BP – go to www.bp.com/claims, call 1-800-440-0858, or visit a BP claims office. You can also visit www.restorethegulf.gov and submit a claim there. For the trust fund (you must submit a claim to BP first and be turned down), go to: http://bit.ly/c50Cwl.

“The Small Business Administration (SBA) is also offering working capital loans up to $2 million at an interest rate of 4% with terms up to 30 years,” he said. “These loans can provide vital economic assistance to fishing and fishing-dependent businesses to also file claims with BP. To obtain loan information and application forms, call the service center at 800-659-2955 or go to www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance.”

Keri Hendry