Merokeans Weigh BP Boycott After Oil Spill

Prior to April 20, Shirley Jenkins had no problem pumping BP gas into her SUV. 

But now nearly two months after a BP oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, sending millions of gallons of oil into the seas, Jenkins is showing her anger by refusing to patronize BP gas stations.

"I am right now," said Jenkins, of boycotting BP, as she was fueling up her vehicle this afternoon at a Mobil station on Merrick Road.  

Just across the street stood Merrick's only BP station. 

"I saw the BP as I was driving here and I made a conscious decision to not go there," Jenkins said. 

"I'm very angry about it," she said of the oil spill.  "I think they [BP] could have handled it a lot better." 

While Jenkins may be on board with a BP boycott – a Facebook page supporting a boycott has more than 600,000 fans- business at Merrick's BP was bustling this afternoon as cars moved in and out of the station next to the Meadowbrook Parkway. 

Employees at the station refused to comment on how sales have been affected since the spill.  They also would not allow Patch to interview any customers at the station, but several people at the Mobil pumps did say their decision of gas stations still came down to their own wallets. 

"I clearly want them to clean it up," said one young Merrick man, who would not give his name, of the spill.  "But if it [gas] was cheaper at the BP, I'd go there." 

The cost for a gallon of regular gas at both stations stood at $2.95 today.

The Mobil station, the clear alternative for people in the area who are boycotting BP, has not experienced an increase in sales since the spill, an attendant at the station said, adding that people were generally choosing stations based on which gas company-branded credit card they owned.  

Eugene Limongelli, who lives down the street from the Merrick BP, said he hadn't considered the oil spill when he chose to pull up to the Mobil station today. 

"I didn't even think about it," Limongelli said, but he said that may change the next time he needs a fill-up.

"I have animosity toward that company," he said of BP.  "I think I would boycott them now that I notice it's a BP.  Absolutely."