Ken Feinberg tells foreign journalists he can't pay 80% of the remaining Gulf claims..100,000 claims

madfloridian

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Mon Mar-07-11 02:55 PM
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Ken Feinberg tells foreign journalists he can't pay 80% of the remaining Gulf claims..100,000 claims

To which I say BS. 100,000 out of 130,000 claims can not possibly lack credibility. He told this to a group of foreign journalists.

From The Louisiana Record:

Feinberg says 100,000 claims lack proof

Ken Feinberg. Pic courtesy of the Louisiana Record

Gulf Coast Claims Administrator Kenneth Feinberg told a group of foreign journalists yesterday that close to 100,000 claims submitted as a result of the BP oil spill "lack proof."United Press International reported today Feinberg's statement that he cannot pay "80 percent of the remaining 130,000 claims because they lack adequate documentation."

"The claims that were denied had woeful, inadequate or no documentation to speak of," Feinberg is quoted as saying.

The GCCF has come under heavy scrutiny from all parties. Currently state attorneys general and plaintiffs attorneys are arguing that the GCCF is in violation of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Recently, Alabama, Mississippi Florida and Louisiana all filed memos criticizing Feinberg and the GCCF.

Feinberg is now being sued. It is "a first-of-its-kind lawsuit alleging gross negligence and fraud" and it has been filed in a Florida state court against Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of the 20-billion-dollar compensation fund for victims of BP's Gulf oil spill, and the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF).

From Dahr Jamail at Truth Out:

Lawsuit Filed Against BP Compensation Czar

Attorney Brian Donovan of the Donovan Law Group from Tampa filed the complaint against Feinberg, his firm Feinberg Rozen, LLP and the GCCF on behalf of Pinellas Marine Salvage, Inc. and John Mavrogiannis.

The complaint alleges, in part, gross negligence, fraud, fraudulent inducement and unjust enrichment on the part of the defendants.

"Feinberg and the GCCF have done more damage than the oil spill," Donovan told IPS. "My client has relied on what Feinberg said he would do. They've made promises they didn't keep. John's company was promised money they have not received."

Mavrogiannis told IPS, "We're sick and tired of this runaround. I'm tired of Feinberg's lies. He's made promises he hasn't kept. He's manipulating the system and that's not right."

In fact a judge ruled that Kenneth Feinberg could not go around pretending he is independent of BP. His firm actually gets paid hundreds of thousands from BP monthly.

BP payment Tsar 'not independent'

US District Judge Carl Barbier said he was ordering BP, Mr Feinberg and any of their agents to change the way they communicated with people seeking money from the fund.
Judge Barbier said Mr Feinberg must clearly disclose in all communications that he was acting for and on behalf of BP in fulfilling its obligations as the responsible party under the Oil Pollution Act.

The judge stopped short of ordering changes to a release form that people who accept final payments from the fund must sign. He asked lawyers to submit additional briefs to the court on that, as well as address the question of whether BP was complying fully with the law in the processing of claims.

..."Lead lawyers in hundreds of claims filed over last year's Gulf Of Mexico rig explosion and massive oil spill had asked Judge Barbier to intervene in the communications between Mr Feinberg and fund claimants. The attorney generals in Mississippi and Louisiana have backed the motion and Florida joined in on Wednesday.

Judge rules Ken Feinberg is not independent of BP. He must stop saying that he is.

Feinberg was appointed by the president. I keep waiting to hear some outrage over how this has been handled. This is one of the worst disasters our country has seen, and to send someone whose firm works for BP is wrong.

I notice that the Center for American Progress is covering it now.

BP Backs Away From Its Commitments to Restore the Gulf Coast While Collecting Windfall Profits

SOURCE: AP/Patrick Semansky
Institute for Marine Mammal Studies veterinary technician Wendy Hatchett holds up a jar containing organ samples from dead dolphins found along the Gulf Coast in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Nine months ago, in the aftermath of the explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig, the 24-hour news networks doubled as 24-hour oil spill cams, with a picture-in-picture window of the out-of-control undersea gusher serving as a constant reminder of the ongoing environmental calamity. At the time, promises to clean up the polluted waters and coastlines gushed with equivalent expedience from the mouths of BP executives testifying on Capitol Hill. Yet today, as the world’s attention is focused on political upheaval in the Gulf of Sidra and the Gulf of Aden rather than environmental upheaval in the Gulf of Mexico, BP is quietly retreating from its responsibility to restore the environmental and economic health of the Gulf coast.

Guess who is questioning the Feinberg ties to BP. A Republican from Louisiana, David Vitter.

Last Friday, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) sent a letter to Ken Feinberg, the oil spill “claims czar,” tasked with overseeing the $20 billion escrow fund established by BP at the behest of President Obama to make payments to Gulf residents affected by the spill. In the letter, Vitter questioned Feinberg’s independence given that his contract for remuneration from BP is structured to be renegotiated with the oil giant every three months. This arrangement flies in the face of BP’s then-CEO Tony Hayward who pledged to the House Energy Committee in June of last year that the claims mediator would be “fully independent of BP.”

And to those who keep saying all the Gulf is fine now, the seafood is fine...read these findings.

* Figures compiled by Louisiana Seafood News show that landings of oysters, shrimp, and crabs from January through October of 2010 were all down more than 50 percent.
* Scores of dead dolphins , many of them newborns or partial term fetuses, have begun washing up on Gulf shores, though the cause of these unusual strandings remains under investigation.
* High levels of toxic chemicals have surfaced in some Gulf residents’ blood.
* The spill caused significant psychological stress and hardship even to communities not directly touched by oil.

...And by the way, the state of Alaska and the U.S. Department of Justice have a pending court claim suggesting Exxon still owes them $92 million. This time around, the American people and the federal government must ensure history does not repeat itself.

As our former president infamously malapropped, “fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice…” It appears we are all, in fact, on the cusp of being fooled again.

It looks like Feinberg promised again to improve the claims process

Ken Feinberg promised top Alabama elected officials on Friday that he would improve oil spill claims operations, and that his Gulf Coast Claims Facility will process at least 25 percent of all pending claims by March 31.

..."Some government leaders along the coast expressed doubt about Feinberg’s Friday pledges.

“He’s been saying that for six months,” said Gulf Shores Councilman Jason Dyken.

It seems that Feinberg is not being held accountable by any higher authorities. I can't blame those leaders for expressing doubt.