Northwest Florida Seeking $14 Million from BP

Anxious about the Gulf oil spill's impact on nontourism businesses, six Panhandle counties are asking Gov. Charlie Crist to secure an extra $14 million from British Petroleum to spur nontourism job growth.

Okaloosa, Bay, Escambia, Santa Rosa, Walton and Gulf counties, all of which have seentar balls litter their shores in the past month, are asking for $2 million each, the Pensacola News-Journal reports. Florida's Great Northwest, a job growth agency in the region, is also asking for $2 million. The money, asked for in a letter to Crist, will be used to supplement $6.5 million the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce is raising from the private sector.