City files $15 million BP claim

Attorneys with the law firm of Kirk-Pinkerton, PA and Motley Rice LLC have filed a BP claim on behalf of the City of Sarasota asking the oil company to pay for $15 million-worth of alleged lost revenue and economic damages resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a press release sent Wednesday from the law firm.

Sarasota’s claim is one of the largest municipal claims in the region and a big deal for Bill Robertson and Steven Teppler, the Kirk-Pinkerton attorneys serving as co-counsel on the case.

City officials voted during last week’s regular commission meeting to file a claim after Commissioner Shannon Snyder argued that the potential benefit to taxpayers was too great to ignore.

“When it's this kind of money for the taxpayer, you can't turn it away,” said Snyder, noting that the money could help Sarasota's struggling economy by allowing the city to avoid raising taxes for several years.

The 77-page civil complaint alleges gross misconduct on behalf of BP and Halliburton and argues that Sarasota took a considerable hit in tourism revenue as a result of the spill, according to the press release.

Contact Roger Droun at [email protected].