After the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, business quickly fell nearly 30 percent to 50 percent said Joseph Costanzo, owner of Wharf Express in Tallahassee.
The negative public perception about seafood harvested from the Gulf of Mexico, particularly at businesses located near the Gulf of Mexico, lasted for months, said Costanzo.
During that time, staff had to be let go, but claims for federal assistance through a fund set up by BP were repeatedly denied.
I think we proved that we should have gotten some of it, Costanzo said. A lot of the money went to people it shouldnt have gone to.
Costanzo said his next hope for relief is through the Restore Act, but it may depend upon which version Congress approves -- or even if Congress can advance the act next month.
On Tuesday, government and business leaders from the five impacted states further cast their lobbying efforts in support of the version of the Restore Act that would direct 80 percent of BPs anticipated $5 billion to $20 billion fine for negligence to Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
Robert Skrob of the Florida Association of Destination Marketing Organizations said tourism dropped 30 percent the year after the disaster in northwest Florida.
What lasts longer is the negative perceptions that folks may have by watching television without knowing what the impacts may be, Skrob said.Florida is open for business and its as beautiful as ever.
Advocates of the act in Congress, such as Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., have said the money would give communities that have had to help themselves repair and revive fishing and tourism industries, along with their local economies, achieve a fuller recovery.
However, representatives, such as Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, have expressed concerns about directing the money away from the general U.S. Treasury, which would benefit the entire nation, into a transportation bill where the bulk of the money focuses on five states.
Bill Williams, Gulf county commissioner, Florida Association of Counties, noted that there have been five organized trips to Washington, D.C., to testify and lobby on behalf of the Restore Act.
Our congressional bodies have been really good, but they have to get that moved through, Williams said.
A media conference was held Tuesday outside the Wharf Express, while letters were simultaneously sent from 118 business development, tourism and government officials from the five states pleading that the money go to communities where the damage from the spill was done.
Destin Mayor Sarah "Sam" Seevers said the money will help further restore confidence in the seafood and tourism industries, noting that when the federal waters were closed after the April 2010 oil spill, families that relied upon commercial fishing were devastated.
When you look into the eyes of those people who were impacted, Seevers said, and they didnt know where their next dollar was going to come from, it was a very, very difficult thing as a mayor to try to tell them that everything was going to be OK, when you did not know yourself what was going on.
The letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Utah, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
