Parish official: BP owes back rent, oil spill command center kicked out of La. building

Official: La. oil command center to shut over rent

CHALMETTE, La. — A parish official says a Louisiana oil spill command center is shutting down over a dispute with BP over rent and other expenses

St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro says the owner of the property that has been home to the operation since May is ordering workers to vacate by the end of the week because BP has failed to make payments.

Taffaro says the company owes millions in rent and that its policy of reviewing invoices before cutting checks has made some payments weeks overdue. BP officials did not immediately return a telephone or emailed message for comment on the amount or dispute.

Hopedale is one of three St. Bernard Parish sites where command centers were set up to deal with the BP spill that dumped more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.