The Washington Post 20100620

A2 Politics & The Nation

Speeding up the route from farm to table .......................................A3 Senate may end secret nomination ’holds’......................................A3 Census takers didn’t count on the anger .........................................A4 Records give Kagan role in settling Harvard-Defense dispute......A7

The World

Afghan forces’ apathy starts to wear on U.S. platoon.....................A8 U.N. report on Afghanistan notes surge in attacks and killings....A9 U.S. envoy wants probe of Kyrgyz riots ..........................................A10 Protest over patchy electricity leaves 1 dead, 3 hurt in Basra.......A11 ’We cannot forever be stuck in Gandhi’s image’ ............................A11 Chinese may lift currency controls.................................................A12 International campaign tries to reduce infant deaths..................A14

Opinion

Dana Milbank. There’s a debt owed the Arlington Cemetery whistleblower. .A17

Editorial. D.C. voting rights are more urgent than making the District the 51st state..............................................A18

Kathleen Parker. Dad matters more than DNA. ....................................................A19

George F. Will.

An NCO speaks truth about Afghanistan. ................................A19 CORRECTIONS

The Washington Post is committed to correcting errors that appear in the newspaper. Those interested in contacting the paper for that purpose can:

·· E-mail corrections@washpost.com. Call 202-334-6000, and ask to be connected to the desk involved — National,

Foreign, Metro, Style, Sports, Business or any of the weekly sections. The ombudsman, who acts as the readers’ representative, can be reached by calling 202-334-7582 or e-mailing ombudsman@washpost.com.

KLMNO NEWSPAPER DELIVERY

For home delivery comments or concerns contact us at

washingtonpost.com/subscriberservices or send us an email at homedelivery@washpost.com

or call 202-334-6100or 800-477-4679

TO SUBSCRIBE 1-800-753-POST TO ADVERTISE

washingtonpostads.com

Classified: 202-334-6200 Display: 202-334-7642 TO REACH THE NEWSROOM

Metro: 202-334-7300; metro@washpost.com National: 202-334-7410; national@washpost.com

Business: 202-334-7320; business@washpost.com Sports: 202-334-7350; sports@washpost.com

Ombudsman (reader representative for news coverage): 202-334-7582; ombudsman@washpost.com

TO REACH THE OPINION PAGES Letters to the editor: letters@washpost.com

MAIN SWITCHBOARD To contact any department: 1-202-334-6000

E-replica Edition: To sign up: thewashingtonpost.newspaperdirect.com On the Internet: washingtonpost.com

For the blind and visually impaired, The Post is available through the National Federation for the Blind (410-659-9314).

Published daily (ISSN 0190-8286). POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC. 20071. Periodicals postage paid in Washington, D.C., and additional mailing offi ce.

S

KLMNO

SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 2010

Oystermen fear a payout that falls short BP’s $20 billion

but you don’t know’ by Dana Hedgpeth

port sulphur, la. — It sounds like a bottomless gusher of money: a $20 billion fund to help make Gulf Coast residents and businesses whole. But here in the bayou, where rich oyster beds have provided livelihoods to many and brought wealth to a few, people worry just how far BP’s handouts will go. “They may satisfy the shrimpers

and crabbers, but for the oyster- men, they don’t realize how much money it is going to take if this be- comes a long-term effect,” said Mitchell Jurisich, 47, a third-gener- ation Croatian American oyster- man who’s done well for himself helping oversee a business that rakes the mollusks out of these brackish waters. The $5,000 claim checks that BP has already given out have largely gone to fishermen, deckhands and captains, Jurisich and other oyster- men point out. The $20 billion fundmay be enough to pay off the little guys or small-boat owners whom President Obama promised to look after. But what about the not-so-little guys and salespeople? What about the kings of the oyster trade such as Jurisich and the man he sells his catch to — Eddie Kur- tich, who’s spent 40 years building himself a booming business as an oyster broker? Kurtich, 66, works as a middle- man selling shellfish by the trac- tor-trailer-load to shucking houses, seafood distributors and restaurants in Alabama, Kent Nar- rows along Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and others in Virginia, Texas, Florida and North Carolina. He, along with a few partners and other Croatians in the area, lease about one-quarter of the 400,000 state-owned acres available for oystering in southern Louisiana. He is one of the most successful members of a business run largely by immigrants from Croatia and their offspring.

With a full head of white hair and a round face, Kurtich — who sports two gold chains and a chunky 18-karat gold ring with a circle of white diamonds sur-

Michael Ivic has been harvesting oysters in Louisiana’s bayou since he was 9. He hopes to take over his father’s business someday.

THE WASHINGTON POST

BP’s Hayward blasted for taking in yacht race BP chief executive Tony

Hayward took a day off Saturday to see his 52-foot yacht “Bob” compete in a race off England’s shore, a leisure trip that infuriated residents of the oil-stained Gulf Coast. Hayward had already

angered many in the United States by suggesting that Americans would be particularly likely to file bogus claims for compensation from the spill. He later shocked Louisiana residents by saying no one wanted to resolve the crisis as badly as he did because “I’d like my life back.” Ronnie Kennier, an oysterman from Empire, La., said the trip to the Isle of

DANA HEDGPETH/

Wight showed once again that Hayward is out of touch with the financial and emotional suffering along the gulf. “He wanted to get his life

back,” Kennier said. “I guess he got it.” As social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook lit up with anger, BP spokesman Robert Wine said the break is Hayward’s first since the Deepwater Horizon rig BP was leasing exploded April 20. “He’s spending a few hours with his family at a weekend,” Wine said. “I’m sure that everyone would understand that.”

— Associated Press

on washingtonpost.com/climate Oystermen struggle to survive after oil spill

In Port Sulphur, La., a community of Croatian oystermen have made a living in the seafood business for generations. Now,

they’re worried about how they’ll pass their occupation on in the wake of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

If you can find a better deal, take it.

3.875% RATE 3.795% APR 5/5 ARM

PenFed.org/MortgageDC 800.970.7766 ~ Se habla español.

All rates and offers are as of June 15, 2010, offered for a limited time, and subject to change without notice. At a 3.875% initial interest rate, the APR for this loan type is 3.795%, and can increase. Based on current market conditions, the monthly payment schedule for a $600,000 60 payments of $2,822 at an interest rate of 3.875%, then 299 payments of $2,785 at an interest rate of 3.750%, then 1 payment of $2,786 at 3.750%. (Principal and interest only. Payment will be higher with taxes and insurance.) The initial rate can change every 5 years by no more than 2% up or down, never to exceed 5% above the initial rate. The adjusted rate will be the lower of the then current index and margin or then current 5-yr ARM rate. †Investment properties are not eligible for this rate or lender fee offer. Existing PenFed mortgage is not eligible for lender fee offer. PenFed pays credit report, flood search, tax set up and appraisal fees. We pay settlement attorney fees if one of our preferred settlement providers is used. If a loan is withdrawn, does not close, or the purchase contract is terminated, all third-party fees and costs incurred will become the responsibility of the applicant. Other terms and conditions for lender’s fees may apply; please contact a mortgage representative for details. Different terms and conditions may apply in Puerto Rico.

THE SUNDAY TAKE Dan Balz

Dan Balz is away. His column will resume when he returns.

rounding a single brown diamond — seems content with success in his first-floor office in his Mediter- ranean-style home near the bayou. Right now, though, in the heart of the oyster harvesting season, he can’t figure out how much of that $20 billion he’s owed. “How do you calculate for what you don’t know yet?” asked Kur- tich, who speaks in a deep voice with an accent that’s a mix of Cro- atian and Cajun. “Your livelihood could be in jeopardy for one, two, three years or maybe seven or eight. God only knows.”

Ever-changing losses Jumbo & Conforming—Same Rate

Adjusts only once every 5 years We pay most lender’s fees† You pay no points For purchases & refinancing

It’s complicated to figure out how much he should claim from BP. Should he estimate lost income to date? And how should he factor in what he’ll make when many of the now-closed waterways reopen? Should he try to figure out what he could potentially lose a year or two from now if his oyster beds are ruined by oil, dispersants or too much fresh water (which is being pumped into canals to keep the oil away but threatening to upset the delicate mix of salinity needed for oysters)? Another tricky factor is

the price of oysters: Before the spill, they were averaging $25 per 100-pound sack; now they’re at a high of $35. Any calculation of loss that he and others come up with will need to be proved to BP. But a lot of deals in the oyster business are made through handshakes and long-term agreements. Kurtich keeps his business contacts from the past 40 years in a red address book held together with tape and a rubber band. His wife works at a small table, across from his daugh- ter, who sits at a computer helping to track bookkeeping. It is not a corporate boardroom. He has a small insurance policy for about $300 a year that covers his oyster beds, which he says is similar to crop insurance for farm- ers. He bought it this spring before the spill. The son of a Croatian farmer,

Kurtich came in the 1960s to this town of 3,100 named for the sulfur that used to be processed and transported from here. A close- knit community of about 1,500 Croatians lives in the surrounding area of Plaquemines Parish. Some of them are third- and fourth- generation oystermen. Kurtich’s success story has been one of hard work and steady growth: He started at his cousin’s grocery store as a bag boy. On the weekends, he’d hustle, making $15 a day in tips. He eventually bought two businesses from his wife’s un- cle: a convenience store and an oyster shucking house. He also be- gan acquiring leases for oyster beds. He made deals with a net- work of about 40 captains who sold him their oysters, which he’d then sell to wholesalers. “I knew nothing about the busi-

ness, but I knew how to use a pen- cil,” Kurtich said of when he start- ed. “I just thought, ‘I’ll learn from there.’ ”

But the oil spill has essentially stopped his business. Kurtich’s sales hit $11million last year, one of his best years ever. But he’s wor- ried that the second half of this year — one that was forecast to have a particularly bountiful crop — could bring him half that. He went from buying and hauling about 40,000 sacks of oysters last June to 711 sacks last week. This week, he expects it to be zero. “That’s just enough to make everybody mad at me,” he said.

‘Only getting worse’ The office phone rang. His daughter transferred the call from one of their buyers in Elizabeth City, Va. “Are things getting better?” Kur- tich said, repeating the buyer’s dai- ly question. “No. How can things be getting better? Things are only getting worse.” He had a tractor-trailer that was ready to be loaded and sent to Mel- bourne, Fla., but there hadn’t been enough oysters in the past few days to fill it. He later sent it three- quarters full. His wife, Joyce, whose grandfa- ther came from Croatia and start- ed in the seafood business in southern Louisiana, sighed as she flipped through paperwork. “Usually our phones are ringing

off the hook,” she said. “Now they’re dead. Our customers aren’t calling because they know we’re shut down.”

Another call came in and his daughter yelled. “You want to talk to Rufus Jr.?”

she asked. From his desk, Kurtich shouted back, “No. Tell him oysters are run- ning out.” Unlike shrimpers and crabbers who can move to other areas, oys- termen are locked in where they lease oyster beds. Some are wor- ried that to show loss of livelihood, they’ll have to hire divers and biol- ogists to prove damage to their oyster crop or get involved with lawyers who will take a portion of any settlement. An avid Saints football fan, Kur- tich has deeper pockets than most in the business and has been a go- to man for loans to other oyster- men. He can’t put aside his skepticism when he hears about the BP funds, which the company and the ad- ministration say could be far more. “Who’s going to get it?” he asked.

“Is it going to be given out in a fair way or not? It sounds good, but you don’t know.” “In Valdez, it took years to solve,” he said, referring to the drawn-out litigious process that followed the Exxon Valdez disaster. “People died before they were

even getting 5 or 10 percent of what they lost.”

hedgpethd@washpost.com

HOW MUCH OIL HAS TO SPILL BEFORE WE CHANGE? There Is An Alternative... EASY, AFFORDABLE SOLAR

Find Out How to Save over $40,000 and Help the Environment too!

Schedule a free home consultation www.leosunergy. com

70% Of All Electricity Is From

Fossil Fuels 877.536.7860 CYBERSECURITY THE BATTLEFIELD IS INVISIBLE. THE REWARDS ARE VERY REAL.

The cyber battlefield is swarming with terrorists, hackers and spies looking to steal secrets, knock out power grids and more. That’s why employers from Cyber Command to private businesses need cybersecurity experts now. And why a bachelor’s or master’s degree in cybersecurity from University of Maryland University College (UMUC) is in high demand. Offered completely online, it’s your chance to fight back against cyber terrorism—while advancing your career.

Enroll now. Copyright © 2010 University of Maryland University College

• Designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education by the NSA and the DHS

• Degrees include a BS and MS in cybersecurity and an MS in cybersecurity policy

• Scholarships, loans, interest-free monthly payment plan and exclusive military scholarships available

800-888-UMUC • umuc.edu/globalcyber

Summertime PLAYTIME

“The Stockbridge” (pictured)

NOW ONLY

Sugg. Retail Price: $ 2,099 Includes

• 5' High, 55" x 57" Play Deck • 10' Wave Slide • Wood Roof (extra headroom) • Rock Wall & Cargo Climber Combo • Lunch Counter

FREE Professional Delivery and Installation!

Mon-Sat 10-6 Sun12-5 Visit our HUGE Indoor Showrooms!

Gaithersburg 301-947-0772

Chantilly 703-968-2901

Visit Us Online: creativeplaythings.com AUTHORIZED DEALER:

Smart Toys & Swings Dulles, 703.421.4406

$1,599 SALE! ‘sounds good,

IS

Hurry,

Limited Time Offer!

Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | Page 8 | Page 9 | Page 10 | Page 11 | Page 12 | Page 13 | Page 14 | Page 15 | Page 16 | Page 17 | Page 18 | Page 19 | Page 20 | Page 21 | Page 22 | Page 23 | Page 24 | Page 25 | Page 26 | Page 27 | Page 28 | Page 29 | Page 30 | Page 31 | Page 32 | Page 33 | Page 34 | Page 35 | Page 36 | Page 37 | Page 38 | Page 39 | Page 40 | Page 41 | Page 42 | Page 43 | Page 44 | Page 45 | Page 46 | Page 47 | Page 48 | Page 49 | Page 50 | Page 51 | Page 52 | Page 53 | Page 54 | Page 55 | Page 56 | Page 57 | Page 58 | Page 59 | Page 60 | Page 61 | Page 62 | Page 63 | Page 64 | Page 65 | Page 66 | Page 67 | Page 68 | Page 69 | Page 70 | Page 71 | Page 72 | Page 73 | Page 74 | Page 75 | Page 76 | Page 77 | Page 78 | Page 79 | Page 80 | Page 81 | Page 82 | Page 83 | Page 84 | Page 85 | Page 86 | Page 87 | Page 88 | Page 89 | Page 90 | Page 91 | Page 92 | Page 93 | Page 94 | Page 95 | Page 96 | Page 97 | Page 98 | Page 99 | Page 100 | Page 101 | Page 102 | Page 103 | Page 104 | Page 105 | Page 106 | Page 107 | Page 108 | Page 109 | Page 110 | Page 111 | Page 112 | Page 113 | Page 114 | Page 115 | Page 116 | Page 117 | Page 118 | Page 119 | Page 120 | Page 121 | Page 122 | Page 123 | Page 124 | Page 125 | Page 126 | Page 127 | Page 128 | Page 129 | Page 130 | Page 131 | Page 132 | Page 133 | Page 134 | Page 135 | Page 136 | Page 137 | Page 138 | Page 139 | Page 140 | Page 141 | Page 142 | Page 143 | Page 144 | Page 145 | Page 146 | Page 147 | Page 148 | Page 149 | Page 150 | Page 151 | Page 152 | Page 153 | Page 154 | Page 155 | Page 156 | Page 157 | Page 158 | Page 159 | Page 160 | Page 161 | Page 162 | Page 163 | Page 164 | Page 165 | Page 166 | Page 167 | Page 168 | Page 169 | Page 170