Oil Spill Could Cost $3.3B

A preliminary report on the impact of the oil spill off the coast of Louisiana predicts that Alabama could suffer losses up to $3.3 billion in economic output, $971 million in earnings, and nearly 49,000 jobs under a worst-case scenario through the end of this year.

The $20 billion Gulf Coast Claims Facility established by BP could see as much as $1.6 billion in lost-earnings claims filed by individuals and ­businesses, said the report by the University of Alabama Center for Business and Economic Research.

State and local governments could file as much as $149 million in claims for lost tax revenue.

The predictions are preliminary since they estimate losses through the end of the year. but they are meant to begin establishing a baseline for the oil spill’s effects, which are “expected to last a number of years,” researchers said.

“Future year impacts will depend on additional information gained about the nature of the spill and the response and their combined environmental/ecological and quality of life effects,” the report said. “Such information will reduce the uncertainty regarding the disaster’s 2010 and subsequent years’ macroeconomic impacts.”

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