Former Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottcamp Falsely Claims That Spilled Oil From 2010 BP Disaster "Didn't Even Reach the Shores of Florida"

Another bombshell lie this week from the Florida GOP, this time from former Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottcamp who made false claims that the 2010 BP Oil Spill didn’t reach Florida’s shores. Kottcamp, now an oil-industry spokesman, doubled down on the remarks, going as far to claim that “tarballs are naturally occurring.”

Kottcamp was in Tallahassee spreading his lies while lobbying to allow off-shore drilling on Florida’s Coast. His antics are another reminder that Floridians can’t trust Republicans to protect our shores from off-shore drilling.

In response to the remarks, Walton County Democratic Chair Samantha Herring released the following statement:

“As a mom with kids who could not safely swim in our precious gulf waters then saturated with BP Oil and their clean up chemicals, I take great offense to former Lt. Gov Jeff Lottcamp’s remarks denying our real life experiences for political gain. His lies about BP’s harms, and their failures, are typical for those in the pocket of the oil industry. The Florida GOP knows that man-made disasters like the BP oil spill threaten our way of life. There is no way any true advocate for the people of Florida can side with Big Oil. The pattern of the GOP attempting to cloud the record and flat out lie, to hide the facts about BP’s horrific damage to beaches of the Panhandle is truly hurtful and scary for our future.”