CITY OF HICOLA

Mayor
Van W. Johnson, Sr. Press Release
Commissioners
Contact: Mayor Van W. Johnson, Sr. June 10,2010
Brenda Ash
John M. Bartley, Sr. Tel: (850) 323-0602 - Fax: (866) 288-8477
Frank Cook Email: van@mayorvanjohnson.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
James L. Elliott Website: www.mayorvanjohnson.com

City Administrator
APALACHICOLA MAYOR VAN JOHNSON LETTER
Betty Taylor-Webb
TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA CONCERNING BP OIL SPILL
City Clerk
Lee H. Mathes, CMC June 8,2010

City Attorney The Honorable Barack Obama, President

J. Patrick Floyd The United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

RE: The Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill

Dear Mr. President:

I greet you as the mayor of a rural town in North Florida, a coastal community with
intense interest in the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Apalachicola, one of only.
two small cities in Franklin County, is bordered by the Apalachicola Bay, which flows
into the Gulf. With such geographic positioning, I am sure you can fully understand our
concern, not just as American citizens, but as Americans who could potentially
experience utter devastation if the oil spill comes ashore in our area.

The most recent news from Unified Central Command raises concern not just regarding
whether the Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill will affect the coastal communities along
the Gulf, but whether that impact and the corresponding actions by the public and
governmental agencies will leave anything in its wake. We know that news coverage of
BP's unsuccessful efforts to cap the broken oil well has already begun to affect the vital
summer tourism industry in north Florida coastal cities and as our beaches begin
witnessing deposits from the spill, that impact will most assuredly increase.

In addition, the closure of significant portions of fisheries in the Gulf will significantly
influence the seafood industry in north Florida, an industry that is the backbone of the
Apalachicola and Franklin County economy.

Incorporated 1831 - One of Florida's Oldest Historic Seaports

In fact, substantial impact of oil residue on our beaches and estuaries will have a
catastrophic effect on all communities along the coast.

Apalachicola, Florida is only one of many small communities dependant almost entirely
on an economic base of tourism and seafood. Decades of restricted freshwater flow
down the Apalachicola River System by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, five years of
dismal national economic conditions, and increased regulations on the fishing industry
has already seriously threatened these industries. The effects of the oil spill would be the
final blow.

As a community, we have been actively participating in preparation activities to respond

to the actual arrival of oil in our water. In addition, we have been working tirelessly to
salvage our summer tourism industry from the negative results of national publicity.

It is now time to begin the preparation for the worst-case scenario. Closing of Gulf water
fishing grounds near Apalachicola will immediately result in the loss of 1,500 jobs in our
city alone and impact 4,400 people in a county of 11,000. Another 30% reduction in
visitors to the area will result in the potential loss of another 2,000 jobs and affect another
5,000 family members. The work we have begun to prepare for the spill's effects
includes, but not limited to the stockpiling of food supplies for distribution to
unemployed workers and finding sufficient social services to handle the expected
demand.

We understand that Apalachicola is but one small piece of a large puzzle whose future
will play out as the spill continues to expand and move. We also understand that
currently, the federal efforts are to stop the leak, and to protect and restore the affected
areas. However, the protection of the environmentally sensitive coastline of
Apalachicola, should exclude any attempts that have been tried and consequently failed
in other coastal communities west of Apalachicola. In addition, Unified Command
should consider immediately installing only barriers that can effectively guarantee the
stoppage of oil from entering any of the three Gulf inlets that lead into the pristine waters
of Apalachicola Bay.

At the same time, our Federal Government needs to begin the process of putting into
motion initiatives that will help stabilize the economic structure for all of the
communities along the coast that are being adversely impacted by this man-made
disaster. It is my suggestion that these initiatives include at a minimum, the following:
• An executive order from the President creating a "State of Emergency" for
man-made disastrous events that's designed to make funds readily
available from those ultimately responsible for causing the event.
• Policies with banking institutions and federal regulators that place an
immediate freeze on foreclosures of businesses and property in oil spill
affected communities.
 • Governmental funding and/or assistance in preparing for changes in the
economic structure of these affected communities.

I cannot adequately convey the potential for disaster this Deepwater Horizon event
presents, not just to the City of Apalachicola and Franklin County, but to all the coastal
communities in its path and this impending disaster will change the way of life in the
Gulf States in a relatively short period of time, even if the well capping procedures now
being implemented are successful. Due to these circumstances, and with great respect, I
am calling upon you Sir, along with all of our elected representatives on both the national
and state level, to take the necessary action to get ahead of this crisis, before it destroys a
large number of our families for generations to come.

I thank you for your time and due consideration, in reading this letter. I trust I have
sufficiently shared with you the gravity of my concern for my constituents, the fine
citizens of Apalachicola, as well as the entire county of Franklin, Florida. From listening
to your various comments on this situation as it has been unfolding, it is clearly evident
you are equally concerned with all that is transpiring. Therefore, I eagerly await your
response to the concerns I have authored.

S;njrelY yours,

V L--e-J~I (L
Van W. John on r., Mayor
The Historic ity of Apalachicola

Cc: Senator Bill Nelson

Senator George LeMieux
Congressman Alan Boyd