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‘Proximity’ Standard Dropped For Oil Spill Claims
October 5, 2010
Amid mounting pressure from Florida officials, the administrator of the fund settling BP spill claims said Monday that geographic proximity to oil-fouled beaches is no longer a factor for businesses or individuals seeking compensation — allowing loses to be claimed in further inland areas such as North Escambia.
Ken Feinberg, head of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility which oversees the $20 billion BP account, called “unwarranted” the standard that had drawn heat from Florida officials and organizations who warned it would force many claimants into court. Feinberg acknowledged the pressure from Gov. Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink over “how, regardless of distance, there has been economic impact beyond the areas closest to the spill.
“After listening to these concerns, I have concluded that a geographic test to determine eligibility regarding economic harm due to the oil spill is unwarranted,” Feinberg said.
McCollum was the only state official immediately weighing in on the decision. He spoke with Feinberg last month, again pressing the state’s case to relax the geographic standard.
Feinberg also met with the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, which claims its members lost millions of dollars in business even though many are located miles from Gulf beaches affected by the spill.
“While we are happy that Mr. Feinberg has finally seen the light on this issue, we continue to have concerns about many other aspects of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility,” McCollum said. “We will continue to monitor the claims process…to ensure that all claims are processed in a timely manner.”
Comments
3 Responses to “‘Proximity’ Standard Dropped For Oil Spill Claims”
I agree with anydaynow. At the time the BP disaster happened unemployment was still in the double digits and also the fact that the few people getting unemployment compensation at that time had come to an end and people were awaiting an extension of the unemployment benefits. It is just plain greed for a lot of the people. Take Mobile for instance, they finally received a nice check from BP and instead of using the money to balance the budget they used some of the money on bayfest and are going to use some on the Moonpie drop and almost immediately went to work on filiing another claim with bp for loss revenue and taxes due to the oil spill. I myself, was raised that if you could not afford something then you just did not buy it or did without which is what a lot of these government people should do.You certainly did not buy anything before your bills were paid. The only people I feel should receive the money from BP are the families of the ones that died because of the explosion and the ones who have lost jobs and the seafood industry. Noone has any way of knowing if the economy would have been any different at that time or if the hotel/tourism would have been any different because, lets not forget that people did not have jobs and a good many people were not receiving unemployment compensation at that time.
I can’t stop laughing about the folks in the area that I know who frequently rant and rave about the need for “tort reform”, and here they are now filing tort claims. I guess that stinky ole shoe is on their foot now!
There should be a proximity limit on some of these claims, There’s a little town up about 40 miles south of Montgomery that filed a damage claim saying that their gas tax revenue was down because of the oil spill. Nevermind the fact that tourism and travel and hotel rentals were down nationwide this year because of unemployment and the economy.
Greed/love of $!!!