FORT WORTH - The Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf may be close to death, but for a small company in Fort Worth the financial impact of the oil spill is just gaining momentum.
The company made a containment boom for BP, but said the oil company has now said "never mind," leaving the Fort Worth business to wonder what now.
Weeks ago, BP ordered thousands of feet of boom from Victory Awning in Fort Worth. Owner Larry Buck bought nearly 30 miles of chain, a warehouse full of vinyl, steel cable, specially fabricated aluminum fittings and stacks of high-density foam.
From the air, boom is a slim strand. BP has already used an estimated five million feet of it. On the ground, what looks like a simple thing is relatively complicated to make.
"We based all this on a purchase order," said Larry Buck, with Victory Awning. "We based it on acceptance of our product."
Now, after its own inspectors approved the boom Victory Awning made, BP is refusing to buy the product. It changed the specifications, leaving Buck to modify all the boom he already made. But, even as his workers change the material to meet the new specs, Buck said BP will not return his calls.
He's not sure BP will take the oil barriers off his hands. On top of that, he is unsure of what to do with boom, except sell it to an oil company.
"I'm 61-year-old," Buck said. "I don't look forward to putting $750,000 of debt on the bottom line."
There are three possibilities for why this happened. One, with the oil spill over, BP decided it didn't need the boom. Two, it may have found a cheaper supplier in the United states. Three, it could have found an even cheaper supplier in another country.
BP said it is working out issues with its suppliers; all Buck can do is wait.
Meanwhile, the moratorium on off-shore drilling has Texas suing the Obama administration. The suit says the moratorium is "unjustified" and that the state had no input.
The federal ban stopped all drilling operations in water deeper than 500 feet. The Texas lawsuit says the ban will hurt coastal communities that rely on that industry.
E-mail: bharris@wfaa.com
