[StBernard] Council Meeting and Murphy Oil

[Westley Annis]

>From reports I have received, todays Council meeting turning into a shouting

match with many residents ask for answers about the status of Murphy Oil.
Although I was not there to confirm what happened, I have to say I am
disappointed if it is true.

A lot of people have been affected by the Murphy Oil spill, myself included.
And I know everyone wants a quick answer, but let me be the next person to
tell you that you will just have to wait.

Such a large area of Chalmette was involved in the spill and I don't recall
any other oil or chemical spill of this magnitude happening in a residential
area in recent memory.  This, coupled with the devastating effects of
Katrina, makes it a new process for everyone, from Murphy Oil to you and I.
You have to think of the steps that are involved in responding to this
event.

Here are just a few broad steps that I can think of, I'm sure there are many
smaller steps that make up these broad steps:

1) Identify the boundaries of the spill and contain it
2) Identify the source of the spill and plug it
3) Clean the area affected
4) Pull samples and test air, soil, and water for pollutants over a
continuing time period
5) Determine what private properties were affected by the spill and the
amound of damage
6) Answer needless legal briefs from predatory attorneys and environmental
groups
7) Make an offer to settle with private concerns who stayed away from the
vultures mentioned in step 6
8) Offer remaining crumbs to those in step 6 after decades of legal
wrestling

Murphy Oil has stated repeatedly that they will "do the right thing" for
residents of St. Bernard. I say you need to give the time to do so. Give
them the opportunity to access the damage and make an offer.

Remember, if all else fails, you have one year from the date of the accident
to file any civil suit against Murphy, if you so choose. No one wants to
wait that long and I'm sure Murphy doesn't want to deal with this forever
either.

For the time being, work on settling your claims with your insurance
companies and FEMA.  The parish government is working as quickly as possible
to restore the services they are responsible for. So is BellSouth, Cox, and
Entergy.  Crews can only work so fast and you can only put so many people on
a job. It is hard to be patient, but at this point, if you are reading this,
the only thing we truly have left from Katrina is time.

Westley