BP Gave Us Too Much Money, Says Town; Police Chief Complains the Price of Crack Has Doubled

crack cocaineThe Alabama town of Bayou La Batre has too much money now, thanks to BP:

It was the home town of Forrest Gump’s shrimp-loving friend Bubba Blue in the famous movie. But since the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Bayou La Batre in Alabama has become home to a new breed of men known as the ‘Spillionaires’.They are the shrimp boat owners who have prospered hugely from the millions of pounds handed out by BP.While many British pensioners have seen the value of their pension funds fall because of the extraordinary decline of one of Britain’s biggest companies, boat owners in the coastal hamlet have struck it rich.

By allowing their vessels to be used in the massive containment and clean-up operation, some have been paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for just three months’ work. And deckhands – who would normally earn up to £60 a day working on shrimping or oyster boats – have been taking home triple that.

So much money has poured into Bayou La Batre that police and town officials now fear for its future…

The situation’s so bad, the police chief complains, the price of a rock of crack cocaine has doubled.

Captain Darryl Wilson, from Bayou La Batre police, said: ‘Before the spill a rock of crack cocaine was being sold on the street for $20. Now that same rock is going for $40. So much money has come into the town that they want to charge more.’It is crazy but when BP said they would set aside billions to pay compensation, it became a free-for-all…

Read the tragic details here.

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