Rush to divvy up Key West’s oil spill settlement has begun
KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER
The ink is barely dry on the settlement between Key West and BP plc over damages suffered from the 2010 Deep Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico but the line is already forming to spend the $2.1 million the city will net from the agreement.
The total settlement unanimously approved by city commissioners on July 14 is $2.753,574 but attorney fees will total approximately $600,000, according to Key West City Attorney Shawn Smith. Although no oil washed up in Key West, the city suffered other economic damage from the spill, he said.
“Our claims were economic damages suffered by the city of Key West. Back in 2012 we went through all our revenue funds and illustrated a loss of roughly $630,000,” Smith said.
He recommended commissioners accept the settlement, saying that the alternative was to sue BP and have to show a direct cause between the oil spill and a drop in tax revenue to the city.
“That causation element is certainly a difficult thing to prove,” Smith said, adding, “I think the amount of damages for our lost revenue is a very good result for the city of Key West.”
Commissioners hadn’t even voted to accept the settlement when requests for the money began. Mike Mongo, a candidate for the District V city commission seat in the Oct. 6 election, went to the podium at the commission meeting to ask that a portion of the settlement be spent on refurbishing local baseball, softball and football fields.
“If we could bump those up a little bit, if we could put some of this money towards that, we could make these playing fields into something that would attract people to come down from up north for a tournament here,” he said.
Commissioner Tony Yaniz was quick to lay out his requests, as well, saying he wanted the money to go towards something that Key West residents would directly benefit from.
“I’d like to see it being used for youth and things or stuff for our seniors. Our streets are in a horrible state of disrepair. I think those monies should be channeled into that,” he said.
Clayton Lopez was next, saying he wanted some of the settlement funds to go towards fixing the roof at the Frederick Douglass Gym in his district.
City Manager Jim Scholl said the BP settlement money should be received by September, in time to be factored into the Fiscal 2015 city budget. Budget workshops are slated to begin July 20.
A total of 509 local government entities filed claims against BP, including school boards and utility districts. Although some cities like Key West didn’t suffer a direct hit from the 4.9 million barrels of crude oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico, tourism took a hit when visitors were scared away from Florida beaches and fishing grounds.
Reportedly the largest corporate settlement in U.S. history, BP agreed to pay a total of $18.7 billion to settle claims against it, of which Florida will receive $3.25 billion. BP will also pay $4.5 billion in fines to the U.S. Justice Department as a result of the explosion, which killed 11 oil rig workers and has been called the worst environmental disaster in the United States’ history.
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The money should go to repair the infrastructure (streets, etc) Things that was not done because of the reduced tax money and have been postponed because of the loss.
This is not a “WINDFALL” to be wasted on ball fields and such!