Lee County Commissioners voted on Tuesday to sue BP for $70 million.
Commissioners say that’s how much the area lost after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf.
While no oil reached area shores, there was a widespread perception it did-- and that perception is what officials say cost the area so much money.
Tamara Pigott, executive director of the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau, says that’s because rumors that there was oil on Southwest Florida’s shores kept tourists from visiting.
“It’s very, very difficult to go, precisely, ‘this is exactly how much we lost as a result of this,’ but we believe without question the area was impacted,” Pigott says. “The businesses in the area tell us, hoteliers said it was as if the phone lines weren’t working. People weren’t calling. Reservations stopped coming in. And once they capped that well, it was as if the phone lines were reconnected and the phones started ringing again.”
Officials say a decrease in potential property buyers at the time also cost the county a lot of money.
Tourism officials launched an expensive media campaign following the spill aimed at countering the negative publicity.
Other local governments along the Gulf Coast have also filed claims against BP.
