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FL Business, Political Leaders Support Restore Act

May 29th, 2012 by flanews

If congress doesn’t’ take action soon Florida could lose billions of dollars for restoring beaches and wetlands. The Restore Act would require most of the fines paid by BP for the 2010 oil disaster to go to states affected. As Whitney Ray tells us, it would mean 16 billions would be divided among Florida and the four other gulf coast states.

One year after Joey Costanzo bought this seafood restaurant, his business venture looked doomed. The 2010 BP oil a disaster, spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Joey’s sales fell by half.

“I had to lay off several people. If they weren’t laid off we had to cut hours back,” said Costanzo.

Fears over gulf seafood are residing, but prices remain high.

“We are still paying, 20, 30, 40 percent more than it was the month before the oil spill happened,” said Constanzo.

Because of the damage it caused, BP is being fined 20 billion dollars.

These business and political leaders want the money spent in Florida. They’re supporting the Restore Act, which requires 16 billion of the BP money be spent on beach restoration and sending the message that Florida’s is open for business.

“Many businesses, many different hotels did close down, so we haven’t made it back completely economically,” said Beth Oltman, with the Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce.

The act comes as Florida’s tourism industry is making a come back. Tourism is up 2.4 percent and 19-thousand jobs were added in the industry in 2011.

But supporters of the act say things could be better, and the long term impact of the spill is still unknown.

“There are still studies that need to be done to determine what impact it’s had on sea life in the area,” said Pensacola Council Member Dr. P.C. Wu.

Congress is expected to take final action on the act before July. If it passes, the money would be divided among the five Gulf States impacted by the spill. Since the disaster, the Florida Department of Agriculture has been testing fish caught in the gulf. The tests show small traces of oil, but the Commissioner of Agriculture says it’s barely traceable and gulf seafood is safe to eat.

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