Town files BP oil claims

The town of Longboat Key did whatever necessary to prepare to clean up any oil that could have come ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded in April in the Gulf of Mexico.

No oil reached our shores, but the town wants to be paid for its preparation efforts.

In September, Finance Director Tom Kelley and his staff submitted an overall claim of $19,494.02 for expenses made to combat any potential oil coming ashore.

“We think we will be reimbursed,” said Kelley, who has already submitted additional information at British Petroleum’s request to process the claim. Kelley does not know how much longer it will take before the town is reimbursed.

British Petroleum (BP), the party responsible for the exploding Deepwater Horizon oil rig, remains financially liable for damages sustained as a result of the disaster.

The bulk of the claim is made up of a $16,981 oil-cleanup plan the town paid beach engineer Coastal Planning & Engineering to create.

The town’s local oil-spill plan would only have been used, Town Manager Bruce St. Denis said, if the town weren’t satisfied with cleanup efforts already in place for the area.

The bulk of the plan called for stopping oil from entering Sarasota Bay through a vigorous alternative boom defense in Longboat Pass and New Pass.

The rest of the claim is made up of staff time and a navigational device purchased to locate tar balls or loose oil in the Gulf of Mexico off Longboat Key shores.

BOX
Claim Components
Expenses Total
Juan Florensa staff time..................... $1,298.61
Anne Ross staff time........................... $124.78
James Linkogle staff time.................. $247.91
Mark Richardson staff time................ $611.01
GPS handheld system........................ $230.72
Oil response plan................................ $16,981
Total claim expenses.......................... $19,494.02

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected]