BP Cut Checks To Fishermen As Oil Spill Devastates The Sea Life

Many fisherman are being sidelined by the BP oil leak as the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico rages. BP has been cutting checks to settle claims for a Gulf fishing industry in limbo, but those payments are a drop within the bucket compared to the oil spill cleanup costs BP has incurred so far. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 has already fouled about 65 miles of the Louisiana coastline as of Monday. An try to plug the BP oil leak with a "top kill" may take place Wednesday, and Congress is debating BP's oil spill liability. Meanwhile, BP is not making any friends in Washington as lawmakers expressed outrage at the fact that the oil business continued to use a toxic oil spill dispersant despite directives to find an option.

Source of Article: BP pays off fishermen as oil spill destroys sea life

BP oil leak puts fishermen in trouble

What comes as a result of the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010 is the closure of a huge expanse of ocean to commercial and recreational fishing. A lot more than 23,000 workers and business owners along the Gulf Coast have filed claims for lost income, as outlined by NNNMoney.com reports. BP has cut checks for emergency money on 9,000 claims worth $ 27.8 million so far. Fishing boat captains have been getting $ 5,000 a month while deck hands get $ 1,000. Operating three boats in Venice, LA, owner of Super Strike Charters Damon McKnights told CNN that he was expecting to bring in $ 50,000 per month during the gulf fishing season's May to August peak.

The trust fund for oil spill liability

BP recently said that oil spill cleanup costs have exceeded $ 350 million, or $ 16 million per day, since the April 20 explosion that sank BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. BP is made responsible for oil spill cleanup costs because of a law that was passed in response to the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. The law, however, sets a $ 75 million limit on other kinds of damages, such as lost wages. As economic losses to the Gulf Coast appear likely to far exceed that amount, the Associated Press reports that a number of Democratic senators introduced legislation Monday to raise the oil spill liability limit to $ 10 billion. The federal government also maintains an Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund supported by oil industry fees. For individuals, companies and governments, it can make a total of $ 1 billion in payouts per incident.

BP oil leak outpaces oil spill cleanup

Governor Bobby Jindal said Monday that the BP oil leak has reached landfall on about 65 miles of Louisiana shoreline. In hopes to hold back the oil, Gov. Jindal implored the Army Corps of Engineers to immediately approve a plan to build artificial barrier islands out of sand, as reported by the New York Times. Depending on a figure given by a senior BP executive to members of Congress in a closed-door briefing on May 4, estimates of the quantity of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 range from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's 6.3 million gallons to a BP worst case estimate of 82.7 million gallons.

Oil spill cleanup method highly toxic

The oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010 cleanup struck a hitch Monday as government officials wrangled with BP over its failure to meet response effort deadlines. For refusing to discontinue use of a toxic dispersant to break up the oil slick, BP is now under a lot of tension. BP claims there were no other choice less toxic, and it prepared a top kill to plug the ruptures well. Also reported by the New York Times, BP has applied about 700,000 gallons of the dispersant in the gulf since the BP oil leak began a lot more than a month ago. This is the largest quantity of dispersant ever used on an oil spill in United States waters. BP is hoping the top kill - pumping heavy liquid to the well - could possibly stop the leak on Wednesday.