British Petroleum Senior Vice President Bob Fryar tried to soothe frustrated members of the Florida Cabinet Tuesday with the promise of a new $25 million check for the state.
But the assurance of more money did little to avert the criticism that everyone knew was coming from Cabinet members eager to prove they could hold BP accountable for the damage the Deepwater Horizon oil spill poses to businesses and the environment.
BP has not been paying insurance claims, capped at $5,000, to businesses impacted by the spill quickly enough, and it needs to expedite the process, Chief Financial Officer AlexSink, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Gov. Charlie Crist told Fryar.
Crist said BP was the fourth-largest private company in the world, was spending $50 million on its own advertising campaign and had a dividend structure for this quarter of more than $10 billion.
Youre a corporation with enormous resources, and these people dont have your resources, Crist told Fryar. So, the speed with which you can relieve that suffering is incredibly important. And we respectfully ask for it today, but we also demand it.
The company has been giving priority for claims, capped at $5,000 each, to individual claimants and small businesses, he said. On average, It takes five days to pay individual claims and seven days to process claims for small businesses. Larger businesses have taken longer because of the paperwork involved, he said.
By the end of this week, well finalize an independent process to receive interim payments on an expedited basis, Fryar told the Cabinet.
Sink, a Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, had invited BP America CEO Tony Hayward to come to the meeting, but the executive sent Fryar in his place. Sink wasnt satisfied with Fryar's answers, calling the $5,000 "shut-up money."
"My request is that we get some kind of response that redefines the word speed," she said.
Throughout the meeeting, the Cabinet was chomping at the bit, eager for a chance to criticize BP even before Fryars turn to talk.
McCollum, Republican gubernatorial hopeful, criticized the oil company and the federal government early in the meeting, during a presentation by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, for their slow response to the spill in the state.
Im ticked at both of them, he said. I know you are, too, he said, turning to Sink.
McCollum said the company hasn't done enough to find alternative methods to clean up the oil that has escaped into the Gulf or the tar balls that started appearing on North Florida beaches Friday. They need to find ways of procuring skimmers, facilitating more efficient retrieval of tar balls, etc.
"You're not making noise," he said. "I'm making noise. Our governor is making noise."
The $25 million promised by BP Tuesday will go to the state as a block grant, with the promise that BP would also be working with the states tourism industry in the future. Crist asked for an extra $150 million from the oil giant last week: $50 million for the states oil spill response and $100 million for an academic study of the impact of the oil spill by the Florida Institute of Oceanography.
In the meantime, Crist has activated the states emergency bridge loan program, taken from general revenue in the state budget. The fund, currently capped at $5 million total, will issue as much as $25,000 to small businesses impacted by the oil spill. Sink has asked the Department of Revenue to look into providing tax relief for businesses, a process that would need to be approved by the Legislature in a special session.
Reach Alex Tiegen at atiegen@sunshinestatenews.com, or at (561) 329-5389.
