[StBernard] Murphy Oil Settlements

[Westley Annis]

Edgar,

In response to your posting, I truly believe the only fair and equitable way
for Murphy to settle with property owners should be based on some equation
with the market value of your property being a major factor.  Two homes of
equal square footage (or lot size for that matter) could easily have
different market values depending on the home's age, condition, quality of
construction materials, recent updating or renovation and most importantly,
location.  And, I'm not talking about location relative to the refinery -
I'm talking location that affects market value of a property.

Also, I dismiss the absurd notion (on Murhy Oil's part) the closer you lived
to the refinery the more settlement you might get.  This notion is based on
the idea that those whose homes were further away from the refinery only
received a "little contamination."  That's the same as saying a woman is
just a "little pregnant."  There is absolutely no such thing as a "little"
contamination - just ask DEQ or EPA.  Either your property is contaminated
or it isn't.  How much it is contaminated or how much time or money it will
cost to clean up the site is irrelavent to the fact that the property is
technically classfied as an "environmental hazard site."  In the real estate
market, I can tell you as an appraiser when performing an appraisal for a
typical mortgage loan, if I detect any kind of chemical substance on the
site or improvements I need to immediately notify the lender and it is
categorized as an enviornmental hazard, the lender automatically classifies
the house a "not sellable" and kills the loan - it's considered it to be of
"worthless value" - at least until the hazard is removed, if it can be
completely removed.  This is because no one will touch such a property and
it's very possible DEQ or EPA will block any type of sale or transfer until
it deems the site safe.  Thus, if you can't sell or transfer title of a
property, then it technically has no value.

So, based on that, the value of the property should be the leading factor to
determine the amount of damages and settlement.  I know if my house was
worth $150,000 prior to the storm and the neighbor's next door was only
worth $90,000, I'd be a little piffed if we received equal damages.  After
all, I would be losing more in value than the neighbor.

I strongly recommend to all property owners in the oil spill zone (and their
attorneys) that the pre-Katrina market value is the basis on which I would
seek damages.

John Scurich