Local distributor feels spill impact

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) - The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico has not reached the shores of Hampton Roads, but its effects are certainly starting to show.

Lots of people across the country love oysters, but there aren't enough Virginia oysters to meet demand. So many local shucking houses usually bring in oysters from the Gulf of Mexico.

One family business, that for years has made sure those oysters got to the dinner plate, now say their bottom line is suffering.

Hampton is a city built on seafood.

"If you go five blocks up the street and dig three feet in the ground, you're going to hit oyster shells," said Meade Amory, manager of L.D. Amory & Co.

In its heyday seafood, companies like L.D. Amory & Co. lined the waterfront. It was the place gulf oysters came to be shucked and shipped.

"There were oyster piles four stories high over by the bridge," remembers Amory.

Now, in its fourth generation of distributing seafood from the Amory warehouse, the bulk of company's business goes west.

"Everybody out in the midwest wants oyster stuffing for Thanksgiving and Christmas," said Amory, "and it's a big part of what we do is to get those oysters out there to those customers."

Because there's not enough Virginia oysters to meet the demand, Mid-Atlantic shucking houses supplement with oysters from the Gulf - until now.

Since the spill, Amory's has seen a nearly 30 percent drop in profits.

"We're already seeing a loss in revenue now because there's not enough oysters. People are cutting their orders back, its getting tough."

Amory's filed a claim with BP, but knows those directly suffering will get help first.

His warehouse is the one of the last ones standing in Hampton, but he hopes the oil won't pull him down.

"We're going to be lucky if we see anything out of this and we're going to be lucky if it doesn't put our trucking company out of business."

Norfolk attorney Jeffrey Breit says he has 450 people on his list of BP claimants.

Breit is preparing for his next trip to the gulf, hopefully with $1 million in BP relief money.

He says several options are taken into account when a claim is filed.

"How close are you to the gulf," said Breit, "and two, how close are your paperwork connections to lost dollars."

Amory filed his claim three weeks ago and has yet to hear anything.