[StBernard] Murphy Oil Information Removed From sbpg.net

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Wed Jan 4 20:18:04 EST 2006



Jim:

I have NO ties to Murphy other than having a few friends employed there, and
yes, I had my reservations about releasing Murphy from any future liability,
but realistically, what else would you expect them to do? Whether or not
to settle with Murphy is an individual choice based upon the limited
information available. In the early stages my home was not included in the
spill zone, which had this remained the case, we would have received nothing
and the damage to my home would have been no different. By that time we
were in the last week of September and we had already gutted our home,
consequently removing all the oil that was included in the "swamp mud".

>From my perspective, I had the opportunity to have my home and steel fence

professionally cleaned immediately, and down the road when I can return
home, will have the interior cleaned and treated again, as well as having my
pool cleaned. As I am not working, these are considerable expenses that I
could avoid by settling with Murphy, as well as receiving additional
compensation without a long, lengthy court battle associated with a class
action suit that benefits the attorneys far more than the participants.

Yes, I have my worries about long term issues, but not only from the Murphy
oil spill but from the water itself. (mold, mildew, etc.) The best options
I could come up with was to do my initial clean-up to the best of my
ability, then be on-site whenever Murphy takes any action. I also plan to
include a HEPA filter and blue light when replacing my air conditioning unit
so that mold and mildew will be continuously treated whenever the air
conditioner/heater are operating.

We have met with the EPA face-to-face about the dangers involved in
returning and was advised that the warm temperatures have destroyed any
benzine that may have remained. We have also had the house treated three
times. Our last treatment will be after Murphy scrubs the interior, then we
will wait a while to make sure that no mold/mildew returns before replacing
the insulation and sheetrock. In the process, we will have our home tested
for oil contaminants. After that, I honestly don't know what else we can
do. If the area is deemed by the government as uninhabitable, then all we
have done has been for naught. I don't believe that will be the case,
however, if so, I would have expected that we would have been notified to
that effect long ago.

Looking to the future, I don't know anyone in the parish that will be able
to sell their home without disclosing the fact that their home was flooded,
was included in the spill zone, or even the fact that they believed they had
oil but were never formally noted as being in the spill zone. That is
exactly what happens today when you sell a home - you have to disclose if
you ever had termites, mold, or mildew to avoid future liability.
Unfortunately, we live in a "sue crazy" society where even if you dot all
the i's and cross all the t's you can still end up in court.

I have no plans to move and made my best decision based on the above
factors. There is no figure that I could come up with that would protect us
if the property is later determined to be contaminated. I only hope that
the federal government would recognize that those that accepted the
settlement made reasonable decisions based on data available at the time. I
doubt that any class action settlement will include a hold harmless
agreement from Murphy unless ordered by the courts. Unfortunately, I do not
have years to wait for the class action suits to go to court and come to a
resolution.

Again, the above is as candid as I can be. If I made a mistake, it won't be
the first one I ever made. At least I know I did all that I could to
research and discuss the matter with Murphy, the EPA, reviewed news
articles, etc. before finally biting the bullet. I only hope and pray that
my decision was the correct one.

John






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