GULF OIL DISASTER TO AFFECT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE & BUSINESSES

With the disastrous effects of Hurricane Katrina still fresh in everyone's mind, the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle to the Texas coastline is girding for another massive economic disaster in the fallout from the huge oil rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana.

Some experts are now predicting that the damage to residential, commercial and recreational facilities will spawn legal actions that will exceed those filed two decades ago after the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska.

Plain and simple, there are far more people with far more economic interests at stake in the Gulf-facing states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida than there ever were in sparsely settled Alaska.

The commercial fishing industry will perhaps be the hardest hit. As in the Exxon Valdez spill, thousands of fishermen will be put out of work and the economic loss to their families and the region is expected to be in the millions of dollars.

It cannot be argued that any spread of the oil slick to the myriad of beaches, fisheries, ports, resorts and transportation systems of the Mississippi River and the Gulf maritime reaches will not have tragic economic consequences.

That is why it is vitally important to preserve the rights of those who will undoubtedly be financially harmed by this environmental catastrophe. If Hurricane Katrina showed us nothing else, it showed us how inefficient and incompetent government agencies are in ensuring just compensation for victims of disasters.

That's why you will need skilled, experienced legal representation to protect your rights and recover whatever damages you are owed for any losses caused by this spill, be it the loss of your home, boat, business or livelihood.

The oil industry makes huge profits from its drilling operations and when disaster strikes the industry marshals its teams of lawyers to attempt to mitigate the damages caused by their negligence and to pay out as little as possible from the billions of dollars they have earned.

However, our justice system attaches liability in cases such as this and British Petroleum and its associates face damages that could exceed those paid in the Exxon Valdez spill once all the facts are in and all the cases of wronged, innocent victims are tabulated.

Time is of the essence. We urge you to contact us as soon as possible for a free case evaluation that could put you on the road to being properly compensated for your losses. This will be a complicated, hotly contested legal battle in which you will want to have lawyers on your side who have the experience and documented successes in jousting in the legal system against these corporate giants. The sooner we can begin working on your case, the greater your chance of success.

HERE ARE THE FACTS THAT WE KNOW SO FAR

This oil spill is a disaster that likely will cause damage quite a bit into the future. Calculations about the extent of the initial damage to the sea, fisheries, wildlife and the coastline are continuing to be compiled by the authorities. Future and secondary damage will not be completely totaled for quite a while. We'll update you as things progress and the figures change.

• The oil has stretched from Louisiana's Breton and Chandeleur sounds, on the northeast side of the Mississippi Delta, to the beaches of Pensacola, Florida, threatening a nearly 200-mile coastline lined with resorts, ports and communities.
• The Coast Guard has issued estimates of the undersea gusher dumping an estimated 210,000 gallons (5,000 barrels) of crude into the Gulf daily. However, independent scientists are estimating that there could be as many as five times that amount of spillage, according to a federal government document obtained by the Mobile, Ala., Press-Register.
• Clean up costs are currently running about $6 million a day, according to British Petroleum.
• The total cost of cleaning up the spill and paying out damages in lawsuits might eventually cost the company $3 billion, according to a research note compiled by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

"There are scenarios that it could be worse than the Exxon Valdez." -- News quote from Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar

COMPARISON TO EXXON VALDEZ SPILL

The Exxon Valdez was an Exxon Corporation oil tanker that hit a reef off the Alaska shoreline, causing a huge oil spill that became the largest ever in U.S. history.

• Date: March 24, 1989 in Prince William Sound
• Over 10 million gallons of oil spilled
• Over 1,776 square miles affected
• Over 3,167 miles of coastline coated with oil
• An estimated 600,000 birds, 5,500 sea otters, 22 whales and countless numbers of fish killed
• Exxon paid more than $3.8 million in cleanup costs and damages