BP Fund Shells Out $5.5 Billion To Gulf Coast Claimants

By Adrianna McGinley

Administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) Kenneth Feinberg announced Thursday before the House Committee on Natural Resources that nearly $5.5 billion has been distrubuted to more than 200,000 claimants. 

The committee heard testimony to gain perspective on the status of the $20 billion fund designated to provide relief to those affected by the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Feinberg said he should be held solely responsible for any complaints or concerns regarding the fund and that these filings not be directed towards the Obama administration.

“Any praise about this program or any criticism about this program really should be directed at me and me alone,” Feinberg said. “The administration has largely taken a complete hands off attitude…BP has in no way interfered with my processing of these claims. I am out there on a limb and if it works thank you and if it fails, I bear the brunt of that criticism.”

He added that he believes the relief fund has been largely successful in processing the hundreds of thousands of claims filed thus far.

“People unhappy with my decisions, either as to eligibility or damage, have gone to the United States Coast Guard under the Oil Pollution Control Act and asked the Coast Guard to review my claim and make an independent determination,” he said. “In every single case, every one, the Coast Guard has agreed with my determination. So I think we’re doing something right.”

Feinberg addressed concerns that only 39 percent of claims have been paid, pointing out that many claimants’ files were regarded as ineligible due to a lack of documentation and location. A number of claimants filed complaints because the business in question fell outside of the funds jurisdiction. Feinberg said that 95 percent of claims have already been processed.

Despite Feinberg’s reassurance, activists from the region are unhappy with the work the relief fund has credited itself with.

Faye Williams, an activist from Operation People for Peace and Michelle Roberts from Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, told reporters many Gulf Coast residents are unhappy with the lack of compensation for those whose health was impacted by the spill and argued that the documentation needed to receive medical compensation were near impossible to meet.

“It’s time now for them to get to the individuals who don’t have CEOs to come in here and represent them,” Williams said.

Gulf Coast Tourism Industry May Not Be Compensated

Robert Hune-Kalter - Talk Radio News Service

Gulf Coast Claims Facility Kenneth Feinberg told the Energy and Commerce Committee Tuesday that defining eligibility for adequate compensation of the Gulf Coast tourism industry is a complex issue.

“’What constitutes an eligible claim?’ is a major question here,” Feinberg said. “It’s easy to compensate a motel or a restaurant on the beach where there is oil, you don’t need the wisdom of Solomon for that claim [but] proximity is going to be the problem here.”

Feinberg said the biggest hurdle he is facing concerning tourism claims is defining the distance from oil soaked beaches an entity can be without negating the plausibility of its claim. 

Keith Overton, Senior Vice President of Tradewinds Resort, accused the media industry for falsely reporting that Florida’s beaches are ridden with tar, deterring prospective tourists.

“The media must be held accountable to accurate and fair reporting of the facts regarding this oil spill,” said Overton. “Hold them accountable for sensationalism and inaccuracies that are there.”

Feinberg said the claims facility should be operational in the next few weeks.

“I believe that the blue print that I have established for emergency payments to be paid as quickly as possible should be finished and available this week,” he said.



Feinberg Is Gulf Coast's $20 Billion Man

By Rob Sanna - Talk Radio News Service

Attorney Ken Feinberg, who was recently appointed to monitor the Gulf Coast Claim Facility, told the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday he plans to overhaul the way compensation is being conducted in the Gulf. Feinberg said he plans to tackle the situation by implementing changes that would make compensation faster, more accurate, and more transparent to eligible people affected by the spill.

“Yes the process has to be much quicker, we will accelerate it. It must be more transparent,” he said.

“The data…is inadequate, does not provide proficient sunshine on how BP has been processing claims, we will do a much better job.”

Pledging his independence from the federal government and BP, Feinberg said he plans to establish a centralized claim center, beef up a staff of adjusters and be a constant, visible figure for Gulf Coast residents.

“This is an independent, private program,” he said. “I’m not beholden to the Obama administration. I’m not beholden to BP. I’m an independent administrator calling the shots as I see them.”

Feinberg said the administration will take fraud very seriously and plans to work with the Department of Justice to ensure the legal integrity of the program is not compromised.  

Feinberg also said he would make sure claims involving injuries incurred during the cleanup, as well as the the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, will be claimable within the program and that injuries that develop further down the road because of exposure to oil could be claimed at that time as well.

“My agreement I have between the administration and BP, at least at the present, I am dealing only with individual and private business claims, no government,” he said. “That might change, but right now that’s the limit of my jurisdiction”