Disenfranchised Citizen

What's the fuss, didn't you read Feinberg's methodology? All will be A-OK by 2012

Here’s the frustrating thing:

From an article in the Times-Picayune about the recent dolphin deaths, discussed is how the oil and dispersants used to clear up the spill “may” have disrupted the food chain…leading to the death of the dolphins.

And it goes on to say that though this could contribute to the calves dying, “there are other possible explanations.”

So, in a court of law, this means zero.

British Petroleum, many months ago, put on a big push to buy as many of the region’s scientists and university science departments it could, all in preparation for eventual court proceedings…and as the courthouse draws ever closer, what is believed versus what can be proved looms ever larger.

Asking any of the fisherman in the Gulf how things are going, what they notice, what they’ve seen, at least as evidenced in e-mails I’ve received, comments on this blog and in various newspaper articles, the Gulf has changed. And do people believe this change comes as a result of the oil spill?

Yes, they do.

But can they prove this in a court of law?

That remains to be seen, and that’s what worries me.

Read the article:

Gulf of Mexico oil spill may have indirect role in dolphin deaths, researcher says

Have a nice day.

Betrayed by science, again

Remember that study in the journal “Science” a little while back that reported microbes had taken care of “nearly all” the methane released during the BP oil spill?

Um, not so fast…

“Scientists on Thursday cast doubt on a study that claimed bacteria ate nearly all the methane that leaked after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, saying its methods were flawed.

Describing the findings as “ambiguous” and “unconvincing,” marine scientist and lead author Samantha Joye and colleagues from 12 other institutions wrote in the journal Science that the study’s methods demanded a second look.

“We find the complete methane oxidation hypothesis unconvincing,” said the article in the peer-reviewed journal.”

Read the article:

Scientists doubt methane from BP oil spill is ‘nearly all gone’

Have a nice day.

Making things right...one attorney at a time...

Okay, so first we acknowledge the obvious:

Lawyers being lawyers, and British Petroleum having long since given up that whole “making things right,” and “actions, not words” schtick – at least in reality – of course BP is going to try to use every legal maneuver to pay as little as possible to anyone. Their company’s in trouble now that the Rosneft deal looks blown so yeah, that whole Gulf Coast thing…it’s one big financial/legal liability and since the media interest flags, it’s time for corporate law to rear the ugliest of heads to take the biggest bite they can…

So stated, let’s move on to the latest from British Petroleum’s attorneys in Judge Carl Barbier’s court, shall we?

Turns out (surprise) British Petroleum is of the legal opinion that the claims for economic and punitive damages as a result of their little ‘ol spill, including those who lost jobs/wages as a result of the drilling moratorium, including those first responders who got sick during the cleanup, including basically…everybody, should be summarily dismissed by Judge Barbier.

Oh…but why?

Because these people must go through Feinberg’s GCCF claims process, first.

Oh…but why?

That pesky Oil Pollution Act of 1990, that’s why. Andrew Langer, BP’s head legal talking head argues that OPA states claimants must first attempt to redress their grievances with the responsible party – BP, and if they are then denied by the responsible party, only then can they file a claim in court. Langer also claims the Oil Pollution Act supersedes maritime law, and since OPA doesn’t allow for the punitive damages allowed under maritime law, these claims must be dismissed as well.

Dismissed, just like that…upwards of 130,000 legal claims.

Judge Barbier gave no timeline on when he would rule on the matter, but perhaps Feinberg now should really want to hold off on closing all those GCCF claims offices, you know, just in case.

BP’s desire isn’t surprising, it makes sense they would want these people to go through the GCCF. Much as the oil company would like to control a United States court of law, they don’t, but the GCCF and Feinberg are a different matter. There they hold much more sway. Hell, their guy wrote the rules, the same man Judge Barbier already ruled can’t claim himself as independent of BP. Good ‘ol Ken, the lawyer whose law firm is paid $1.25 million dollars a month by BP. Way back when, the GCCF and Feinberg’s stated mission was to keep people out of court, but this didn’t entirely happen, especially when his “generous” payments turned out to not be so generous after all. So now British Petroleum argues Judge Barbier should rule in their favor and complete Feinberg’s mission for them, kick the claimants into BP’s court, where they can be delayed, stalled, and hopefully, so frustrated that some throw up their hands and take Feinberg’s “generous” claims instead of heading back into court to be delayed, stalled and frustrated anew by BP’s lawyers.

From a legal standpoint, it makes sense. What does British Petroleum really have to lose? Self respect? The goodwill of the Gulf Coast? Well, self-respect and goodwill ain’t worth a dime and this whole mess has appeared to be about the money for this company since day one. 

The plaintiffs’ attorneys, of course, disagree with BP, arguing OPA was created after the 1989 Exxon-Valdez spill because legal remedies available at the time were insufficient. They further argue the companies involved in the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon shouldn’t be able to now use OPA as a legal shield to escape punitive damages and throw these legal claims into the GCCF mess. Besides, the oil pollution act of 1990 doesn’t expressly declare an intent to displace maritime law, whereas other statutes that prevent punitive damages do specifically prohibit them.

Judge Barbier, who questioned both sides’ arguments, asked how it is he is supposed to go through the 130,000 cases to determine which should be thrown out and which should be allowed to proceed. Nobody seemed to have an answer on this, beyond saying such a process will be exceedingly time-consuming.

Even more so pehaps, then the GCCF’s claim process.

But British Petroleum wasn’t the only company to get in on this four-hour hearing, and all involved had an argument on why these pesky economic claims should be dismissed. Represented in court were Anadarko, Halliburton, Cameron International and Transocean. Transocean argued that since BP is the responsible party, economic claims should only be made against BP under OPA, and then it would be BP’s right to go after the other companies to pay their share. You see, the people have filed suit against the wrong companies in the wrong order.

In other words, much like Feinberg’s screaming about unsatisfactory documentation, all of the big companies on the hook here are claiming the businesses and the people of the Gulf Coast are doing it wrong, not adhering to the correct process, not filing suit against the right company, not going through the GCCF process first, where they would inevitably be unable to document their claims in the correct way.

Or in other, other words…the claimants, the victims in this colossal fuck-all, the right thing for them to do would be to do as they are told, hurry up and wait, and go back to a GCCF process many consider long since broken.

All unless Judge Barbier, much like finally declaring Feinberg not independent, sides again on behalf of the people so harmed by this disaster, a catastraphuk not of their own creation.

Oh, but that’s not all, there’s more…

On the drilling moratorium: BP also asked for a dismissal of the claims by people who lost jobs/wages as a result of the drilling moratorium, saying it was the government who declared the moratorium, not BP, so why are they at fault? According to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, the moratorium was something the government would reasonable feel was necessary when they realized, hey, those oil rigs aren’t as safe as we ignored/were led to believe and you know what? We don’t have the resources to fight off these kind of spills so we better do a safety check. The plantiffs’ attorneys are also guessing the moratorium wouldn’t have happened had the Deepwater Horizon not exploded and since, under OPA, BP is the responsible party…well…they should be liable because one plus one usually equals two.

Unless you’re watching the latest “making it right,” advertisement by British Petroleum.

Attorneys for Nalco were also in court, the makers of Corexit dispersant and they argued they should have immunity from damage claims by people who got sick inhaling their toxins because the Federal government was in charge of the response, and it was the federal government who chose to use Corexit, “This was a spill of national significance, which put all of the decision-making in the hands of the federal government,” said their attorney.

One might wonder if this attorney is referring to the same government whose EPA expressly ordered British Petroleum to stop using Corexit dispersant, only to have BP refuse…somehow equating BP’s ability to do as they wished throughout the spill response with the ability of the government to be in charge of all the decision-making. 

There’s also the matter of all the private contractors who claim they deserve immunity too because they were doing cleanup under the same fully authoritative decision-making of the same federal government who had everyone listening intently on that whole Corexit deal. The plaintiffs’ attorneys in this case rightfully argued said contractors weren’t working for the government, they were hired by and working for BP and thus, why should they have immunity?

The entire hearing lasted a total of four hours and there’s more, but damn, my fingers are getting tired so perhaps I should just try wrapping this up:

British Petroleum, Transocean, Anadarko, Cameron International, Nalco…dismiss everything so we can better direct our funds to making things right for the Gulf Coast…

Residents and businesses of the Gulf Coast…get out of their way, you’re doing it wrong so go talk to Feinberg and he’ll tell you in no uncertain terms just how wrong you all are, while he painstakingly helps you to move on, being the loyal neutral arbitrator that he is…

The lawyers? Well, they’re busy being lawyers…

But most importantly, Judge Barbier, it’s up to you now and I for one, hope your ruling continues the process of finally making things right for all the people along the Gulf Coast that British Petroleum has made so wrong.

Read the article:

Defendants in oil spill litigation seek to have groups of claims dismissed

Have a nice day.

Out with the old and in with the new...

The Iron Rail, formerly of the Marigny until the NOPD decided to get all legal on them…ah, Ronal, remember the good old days, back when your life was so less complicated? Anyways…the Iron Rail is back, with new digs in the French Quarter at 503 Barracks St and Friday night is their grand opening from 4-10pm.

For those so inclined and even those not so, please drop on by and give ‘em some support. Congratulations…hope it all works out…

And also, for those who might be anarchistically minded…check out this newly discovered site…well, new to me anyways… go ahead and expand your horizons at Nola Anarcha…

And to the New Orleans Ladder…thanks for making me aware…

Have a nice day.

I said...NO!

…you’re being had?

In all the articles I’ve read or written about over the past year or so, especially the ones concerning Ken Feinberg and the GCCF, the one thing that keeps coming up time and time again is claimants, politicians, the Justice Department and everybody else involved cites a problem with the claims process, they come up with what they think is a reasonable request for Feinberg to modify the claims process to address said problem…and Feinberg always gives the same response…

No.

It happened with the methodology. Feinberg claimed to read every criticism before fine tuning the process but very few complaints were addressed at all.

It happened with transparency. Everybody and their mother has asked/demanded more transparency in the process and Feinberg changes little.

Now, the brown shrimp season is getting off to a horrible start and several fisherman/shrimpers are wanting to file claims, interim claims so Jefferson Parish officials request that Feinberg not close the GCCF offices he had planned to shut down, so these new claims can be filed promptly and with assistance.

And Feinberg says?

Read the article:

Poor shrimp season means BP oil spill claims offices should stay open, Jefferson Parish officials say

Have a nice day.

No...nope...brown shrimp have nothing to do with the proposed timeline for Gulf health contained in my methodology...next question please...

Despite reports by experts that initial testing had proved positive, the brown shrimp season has gotten off to a poor start. A government source confirms the catches are down dramatically, and because of the high cost of gas and the low price for gulf shrimp, some fisherman have already given up one week into the season.

“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen for a shrimp season open,” says Acy Cooper, a Venice-based shrimper and VP of the Louisiana Shrimp Association. “The brownies we are getting are very small and there’s not too many of them. People around here can’t make a living with the price of shrimp these days and the high prices of gas. It’s going to get bad around here if we can’t catch more shrimp.”

And despite reports the oil spill hadn’t hit the fisheries as hard as some worried about, now fisherman wonder if the impact of the spill is worse than expected.

“Barataria Bay is just dead,” says Karen Hopkins of Dean Blanchard Seafood, “We’re trying to get Wildlife and Fisheries to close the season down because we don’t want to kill the entire crop of babies.”

Clint Guidry, the President of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, said of Barataria Bay, “It’s still early in the season, but it’s not hard to explain. BP did it. Whether we’ll ever be able to absolutely prove it is another thing.”

The poor catches of brown shrimp are troubling and not just for this season, it’s also a potential indicator of the Gulf’s future health, “I’ve never seen an open like this one,” said David Arnesen, a fisherman and shrimper, “They can’t blame it on high water because some areas don’t get fresh water here. Shrimp are a major food source in the food chain. It may take years to see the full impacts. But it don’t matter which end you hurt. It’s all connected from the top to the bottom. If the shrimp are in trouble, we’re all in trouble.”

Read the article:

Warning Signs Flash at the Start of a Crucial Shrimp Season in the Gulf

Have a nice…

Oh…one more moment…something I can’t let pass without comment…

When Mitsui agreed to pony up $1 billion dollars to British Petroleum as their portion of damages to the Gulf, Bob Dudley said, “This settlement is an important step forward for BP and the Gulf Communities.”

Right.

This corporate BS double-speak drives me crazy. This settlement has nothing to do with Gulf Coast communities and everything to do with helping BP pay what they’re already on the hook for paying. Also, the settlement may strengthen BP’s case they aren’t solely at fault on the Deepwater Horizon and therefore, not “grossly negligent” which will save them billions more in fines…

That isn’t good for the Gulf Coast. That doesn’t make things right.

Nice try, Bob…but stop pretending otherwise.

Okay, now…

Have a nice day.

Almost an election year...almost have to pay attention again...

A quick perusal of the GCCF’s current statistics on the claims process shows two very important things…

1. Quick payments are getting paid, unless a person find themself suddenly under investigation by Guidepost Solutions.

2. Still not getting paid are final payments and really not getting paid are interim payments.

Making the news of late is the GCCF claims offices that are closing down throughout the Gulf Coast, eight of them to be exact, yet still people wait. In an editorial a few weeks ago, Feinberg spoke of how almost all of the claims had been reviewed and yes, this is important, but more important is why are these reviewed claims not moving forward? Some claimants, especially concerning final payments are deciding whether to accept the offers made, but this is not the case when it comes to interim payments…or maybe it is. Hard to know for sure as Feinberg continues to not address the issue of transparency when it comes to this process.

A few samples from the GCCF’s numbers:

Concerning final claims:

96,000 claims have been reviewed. 46,000 offers have been made. 28,000 offers have been accepted.

Concerning interim payments:

63,000 of 78,000 claims have been reviewed. 11,000 claims have been accepted.

And of course, the quick payments:

114,000 of 118,000 have been reviewed while 113,000 have been paid.

The numbers continue to be slanted heavy towards the quick payment option which is the option that works out best for British Petroleum: the claims are inexpensive to pay and require the claimant to sign away their rights to sue for any future damages.

Interim payments continue to sit on the back burner which if you’re BP makes perfect sense, this claim doesn’t require anyone to sign away anything.

And as far as the final payments, while it is impossible to know generally how satisfied people are with their claims offer, we can take a look at one person in particular, one claimant so disgusted by the GCCF and Ken Feinberg that she wrote a letter to Ken and President Obama with some very pointed observations:

“After hundreds of phone calls and emails, I have been offered 5k as a final payment. This is unacceptable, ridiculous and a violation to your own policy that is outlined on the GCCF website. I have provided all documentation to support my loss of income and you have been ordered by the court to pay for all damages and losses due to the oil spill by the oil rig “Deepwater Horizon”, in the gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, MDL #2179.

I will have my claim reviewed again and again and again. I will not go away, give up or give in to your outrageous conclusions.

You will use the documents I provided, you will use the methodology that is outlined on your website and I will be compensated for all of my income losses. I am determined to fight for my rights and not have a multi-billion dollar company or law firm take advantage of me in any way.”

Another satisfied customer.

Another person forgotten by the process, whose final payment offer is the same as a quick pay settlement despite any documentation she may have provided. Now, perhaps Ken’s offer was fair…perhaps. Hard to say when the transparency is lacking, and even harder to say if Barack Obama will pay attention to the people of the Gulf Coast, finally.

Have a nice day.

Of course Guidepost is reputable, did you see the way that maid was dressed?

Answer:

They both hired Guidepost Solutions to investigate their victims.

When Feinberg decided his “no strings” offer of quick payments for claimants was too, “no strings,” he hired Guidepost Solutions to begin investigating their already paid EAP claims and If the EAP claim was then found to be fraudulent, no quick payment…

And when Strauss-Kahn, the now former head of the IMF gets charged with sexually assaulting a hotel maid, not only does Ben Stein inexplicably come out and defend him(?) by saying hotel maids are a general pain in the ass, but according to the New York Times, Strauss-Kahn’s attorneys hire Guidepost Solutions to investigate the background of the alleged victim…

So, Guidepost Solutions’ll apparently work for anybody, won’t they? Hopefully somebody reminds them some day what mother said about the friends you run with – their character has a way of rubbing off on you…

Have a nice day.

The air we breathe...

“I sent an email to President Obama saying, ‘You are a fucking traitor,’ using those words… ‘You’re a traitor, you allowed foreign boots on our soil telling our military — in this case the coastguard — what they can and could not do, and telling us, the citizens of the United States, what we could or could not do’.”

- Peter Fonda

So said the Easy Rider actor, hanging out in Cannes for the premiere of the film, “The Big Fix,” in which he tries to go to a beach in Louisiana to assess the impact of the spill only to be turned away by BP cleanup personnel.

Just one of the many sad developments to remember from the summer without end.

Have a nice day.

Where johns get up to their old tricks...

In the beginning of an important story by American Zombie, he details how Big Oil has two bills in the works which would make it illegal to file lawsuits against oil companies, including British Petroleum.

And the Louisiana lawmakers to vote on this?

Yes of course, all have ties to oil and gas companies…

“Briggs (President of LOGA) would have us believe that there are 100′s of inflated and unfair lawsuits in the state against poor, little oil and gas companies, like BP?  He’s also suggesting we’ve got “friendly judges” that are rubber stamping this racket?  Not only has he called into question the integrity of our state’s judiciary, the guy is suggesting that big oil and gas companies are being victimized…no kidding.

As if that wasn’t outrageous enough, wait until you hear the “republican” solution to Briggs imaginary problem.  He want’s to bar lawsuits against the oil and gas companies and turn the remediation process….the money, the work…THE CONTRACTS… over to a state entity, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Seriously.

Did I mention this bill isn’t even constitutional?  I’ll get to that later on.”

Follow the link to the entire article…

Big Oil…slippery bastards that never sleep

Have a nice day.