Bp Economic Impact

Economic Impact
The economic impact is still not fully known. Many different stakeholders were economically affected both directly and indirectly. Businesses associated with the tourism industry, restaurants, hotels and fisherman were most affected. There was a decrease in fish production commercially due to fisheries closing (National Academy of Science). Gulf fisherman lively hood is at stake as the seafood harvested from the gulf is not safe. With images of the ruined coastline frequently broadcasted has resulted in the decline in tourism in the Gulf of Mexico. One year later the tourism industry has not boomed (Jones, 2011), local businesses that do excursions in the water such as scuba diving or sailing are greatly affected as people

Even areas that were not directly affected by the oil spill, also showed a decline in tourism. Lee County received $500,000 from BP to assist in advertising and spent over $1,250,000 in advertising to counteract the negative public opinion of the area but to no avail (Finn, 2013). In attempts to bring tourism back to the region BP has spent over $150 million into promoting the Gulf. BP is expected to pay another $30 million by the end of 2013 (Reuters, 2012). Tourism in the Gulf area seems to be making a comeback three years later. A study by Smith Travel Research, Inc., an international market analyst group, conducted a research that showed the occupancy in hotels within 10 miles of the Gulf was higher in the first quarter of 2013 than in the first quarter of 2010, the period directly following the oil spill (Finn, 2013). There is an increase in hotel room tax revenue since 2010. 9 Compensation Mechanisms Oil spill regulations were enforced by federal, state and international parties. There is a division of responsibilities in two

BP then took Halliburton and Transocean to court to apportion blame and the consequent damages for the spill. The courts found BP solely responsible for the compensation of individuals and businesses affected by the spill. BP is trying to put a halt on payouts to legitimate claimants and get a financial return through excessive appeals claims and lawsuits against the court-supervised settlement and the EPA. BP’s agenda is to get the claimants to accept less money than what the court supervised settlement had decided on, this would avoid a lengthy appeal processes. BP chose to deal with the compensation of claimants outside of the court by consenting to the court-supervised settlement yet it appears they are adamant to minimize their financial duty utilizing the very courts they were adamant to keep away from. BP is utilizing a legal system to prevent the payment of legitimate claims. BP has made efforts to restrict the payment of claims beginning mid-July 2013 in light of the way that the reserve set up in 2010 won 't cover every one of the claims continuing to be made. The company had asked for a stop on payments while former FBI chief, Louis Freeh, investigate cases of misconduct inside the Court Supervised Settlement Program. The request was denied by the U.S. Locale Judge Carl 29 Barbier in New Orleans. BP had stated