# How Could I Cash In On The Gulf Oil Spill Disaster? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 19, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210 "2010-07-19T12:33:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/1 "2010-07-19T12:33:19Z")
I read that BP has put aside $3 billion to settle damage claims against them, as a result of the massive oil spill. How could I (theoretically) get my share of this? Granted, I don’t live on the Gulf, but I consume oysters, shrimp, etc. from the gulf-suppose I fell ill as the result of oil contamination? Could I file a damage claim against BP? Would it be advisable to fill a lawsuit? I’m wondering if BP will simply make a massive payment (in lieu of defending against thousands of lawsuits), and make a distribution based upon claims only. I figure I can get a few thousand off of this. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/2 "2010-07-19T13:57:58Z")
If you want to make money off of this, buy BP stock. Take a look at Exxon, post-Valdez – right after the spill, Exxon stock was at 5.75. Today it’s at 58.60. BP spent most of this year (pre-spill) in the 50’s. A month ago it bottomed out around 26, and has been steadily climbing since. Right now you can get it in the high 30’s – a year from now it’ll be in the low 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/3 "2010-07-19T14:57:37Z")
BP is currently defining qualification criteria for any money they agree to pay out. If you have a shrimping business, you will likely qualify for some money. However, if you have a wedding planning business that focuses on beach weddings in the Gulf, then you may or may not qualify. I don’t think BP has decided yet. Obviously you can always sue BP in which case others will decide if you qualify for a settlement. It seems very difficult, time-consuming, and costly to attempt to establish that your illness is the result of seafood that came from the Gulf and was contaminated by oil. There are too many levels of indirection. It would be easier to get a part-time job. BP isn’t going to give you a few thousand dollars just because you tell them you’re sick. ---
**Author:** ![moldybread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@moldybread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moldybread)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/4 "2010-07-19T15:41:45Z")
Here is a good idea, leave that money to people who actually have suffered from the oil spill. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/5 "2010-07-19T15:55:59Z")
Are you a lawyer? They’re not doing badly right now because of the spill. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/6 "2010-07-19T16:15:29Z")
It took over 25 years to settle lawsuits from the Exxon Valdez spill. This one is gonna take a lot longer to work through all the suits. So if you sue, I hope your young 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/7 "2010-07-19T16:29:25Z")
> [@moldybread](#): > > Here is a good idea, leave that money to people who actually have suffered from the oil spill. Word. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/8 "2010-07-20T01:19:37Z")
Make funny t-shirts like: “I’m with BP” or “BP: Protecting you from shellfish allergies since 2010” ---
**Author:** ![Race\_Harley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Race\_Harley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Harley)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/9 "2010-07-20T04:58:35Z")
Buy stock but wait until after the inquiry by the US government into whether they had a hand in getting the Lockerbie Bomber out of jail last year. The company may have to fold if they’re found to be involved. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/10 "2010-07-21T03:23:40Z")
I just heard about this and it’s baffling me. Whyever would they want him released? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/11 "2010-07-21T03:59:37Z")
Evil Exchange Program. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/12 "2010-07-21T07:00:55Z")
> [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](#): > > I just heard about this and it’s baffling me. Whyever would they want him released? The idea is that BP wanted to drill off the coast of Libya and that they worked to get the bomber released in exchange for the oil deal. I’m not sure that there is any proof beyond coincidence. It could just as easily be an attempt to (further) discredit BP in the US. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-i-cash-in-on-the-gulf-oil-spill-disaster/547210/13 "2010-07-22T00:34:43Z")
Why the need to get sick? I regularly eat oysters and shrimp from the Gulf and the prices are skyrocketing. Shouldn’t BP compensate me for these increased prices? Should I just quit eating these things and have my health (because seafood is good for you) or my enjoyment of life suffer? Or, I was thinking of going to Biloxi later this summer. Just thinking. Didn’t go online and attempt to book tickets, but that was one of my options. Because of the oil spill, that is one option that is no longer on the table, limiting my enjoyment of life to the other available vacation destinations. Surely they owe me the difference between the cost of a week in Biloxi and a week in Paris. Obviously, IANAL, but I can’t see how these peripheral type of damages could ever stop. It is sort of a butterfly effect of liability with BP.