Disenfranchised Citizen

So then it's agreed? The dolphins are all committing suicide in protest of fewer deep sea oil platforms to swim around. Wonderful...Bob, you good with that? Great. Okay, bring the Coast Guard in here...

It just keeps getting funnier, except it’s not…

In this past week, it has been reported how, in the immediate aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, British Petroleum had demanded via e-mail that it’s own expert be kept quiet when he gave his opinion stating 82,000 barrels of  crude a day were coming from the Macondo Well. In fact, two days after ordering his silence, BP publicly announced their estimate that the flow rate was only 1,000 barrels per day. And of course, this report comes on the heels of another showing how the White House had been trying to get the United States Geologic Survey to downgrade its flow rate estimates in public statements too, reducing the USGS estimate of at least 25,000 barrels of oil per day coming from the well to a number the NIC thought sounded better, 12,000 to 25,000 barrels or better still, the estimate a White House Communications officer suggested, 12,000 – 19,000 barrels per day. Oh, and who can forget the wrongful termination lawsuit being filed by August Walters where he claims to have been fired by BP a couple of months back because he wouldn’t modify clean-up data  to make the beaches appear cleaner on paper than they in fact truly were, thus allowing BP to say they’d turned the corner and in light if this data, come to an agreement with the Coast Guard to officially move from cleanup to restoration, all while eagerly anticipating the stock bump to come from such an announcement.

Yes, these are the assholes in charge making things right along the Gulf Coast, and yes, the oil company mentioned in the above paragraph is the same British Petroleum putting out all those feel good commercials telling you how everything is just swell now. Hey! The economy, the seafood and the jobs are back!

And now, today even, when it comes to that same oil company and that same government, I’m sure if you asked, they’d go on and on to tell you how it would be impossible for the low-balling of flow-rate numbers that lead to a potentially flawed cleanup response based on their bad data, and how the fact there is still more unaccounted for oil in the Gulf of Mexico than was spilled from the Exxon Valdez…yeah, they’ll tell you how none of this has anything to do with more dead dolphins…even if there still is oil along the Louisiana coast.

Of course not.

That would be fucking ridiculous, and potentially unprofitable…

However:

“Since the beginning of the month, 14 marine mammals, including a dozen dolphins, have been found along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Half of the dead dolphins washed up on the Louisiana coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) calls it an “Unusual Mortality Event” in the northern Gulf and next month will mark two years since it began. The tally so far: 630 dead.

The event started in February of 2010 – two months before the oil spill began. Still, the deaths raise a red flag with the Gulf Restoration Network. “The ongoing death of these dolphins speaks to the idea that we haven’t seen all of the impacts from the BP oil drilling disaster end yet,” said Dan Favre of the Gulf Restoration Network.

Ridiculous, indeed…

Read the article:

More dead dolphins wash up on Southeast Louisiana coast

Have a nice day.

"And I killed it in New York, in California...in Ireland, they loved me..."

On Wednesday, Ken Feinberg attended a meeting in Jefferson Parish where local fishermen, oystermen, shrimpers and crabbers weren’t as celebratory of his efforts with the GCCF as the law students were when he recently spoke in Ireland.

Harlon Pearce, owner of LA Fish & Seafood asked, “How do we go out and market this product, when we’re worried about having a product to market?”

This is becoming quite the valid question.

For the past couple of weeks, reports have been coming in to shore fast and furious about the lack of shrimp catch, “I am talking to the guys, I am talking to the docks, and they are telling me that they are 80 percent off,” said Clint Guidry, president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, “We should have had a good year this year.” Carol Terrebonne, who runs the Seafood Shed, a seafood wholesaler in Golden Meadow, agreed, “Usually at this time of the year, we are loading trailer loads,” Terrebonne said, “It’s just not happening.”

Dean Blanchard, a third generation shrimper who owns a processing plant in Grand Isle is being forced to close because far fewer shrimp are coming into the plant this season and some of the shrimp are showing signs of contamination. Blanchard says he is seeing first hand how the oil and dispersants are causing the wildlife and people to get sick, “We’re seeing dead porpoises, we’re seeing shrimp with no eyes that’s still alive, we’re seeing fish with tumors the size of golf balls in them, we’re seeing fish with oil all over the gills…it’s hard for me to think that everything is going to be alright.”

And back in the meeting at Jefferson Parish, Ken Feinberg stated the obvious, saying that the problems on the Gulf Coast go deeper than issues with his claims process, “There are fishermen in there complaining that though they’ve heard from the GCCF, they don’t like the news they’ve heard — about deficiencies, delays, denials — and that’s what we have to deal with.”

Yes, you do…because though the problems go deeper, the environmental concerns and your claims process are linked.

The GCCF was intended to make things whole for the people of the Gulf Coast, including the fishermen. If they can’t bring product to market, the claims process must address this and fill in the financial gaps until they are again able to do so. That was the whole point of the escrow account, to financially resolve damages caused by this oil spill…well, those damages are ongoing.

Some ideas to come out of this meeting that could help are:

1) There is a proposed separation of claims coming out of the so-called oil spill “Ground Zero” in Louisiana, mainly for those involved in fisheries in Lafitte, Grand Isle and Venice.

2) The setting up of a “Claims Day” in Jefferson Parish, where payment complaints could be handled.

3) A potential change in how the claims are processed and calculated.

And number three would seem to be the most important. If the estimates and calculations for the GCCF claims process are indeed wrong as the ongoing environmental problems would indicate, then those calculations need to be changed.

Also, the interim claims process need to be expanded. Claimants, especially those who make a living from the environment, from the seafood industry who previously accepted final and quick payments and now want to re-apply should be allowed to do so, given amnesty, given another chance as the science keeps rolling in. To say tough luck, shouldn’t have signed away your rights and taken those offers, who does this serve? British Petroleum, yes, but certainly not justice.  In addition, the GCCF needs to stop pressuring people into taking final claims, and that goes straight to the top, to Feinberg who has publicly stated that at some point, people need to move on.

If the fishermen have nothing to catch, how are they supposed to do that?

The worst part of all this?

For some it might already be too late, “I don’t even need [Feinberg] to pay me,” Blanchard said of his now closed processing business, “If he could just pay the fishermen, so they quit asking for credit, I would consider staying open.”

Feinberg needs to be reminded this isn’t about British Petroleum, nor is it about what’s easiest and best for the GCCF, it is about the people of the Gulf Coast and if they are still losing money due to environmental damages, if businesses are still closing down as a result of this oil spill, then the GCCF is not doing their job, which means Ken needs to go back to the drawing board and make right these problems and the people once and for all.

Supposedly, this is why he was hired.

Read the article:

Potential changes coming in processing of oil spill claims in coastal La.

Have a nice day.

GCCF Policy

Rocky Kirstner, writing on his blog for the NRDC, speaks to several fishermen who highlight the ongoing problems in the Gulf:

The all important white shrimp season opened a week ago and some fishermen say it too will be a disaster, perhaps worse than the brown shrimp season that ended in July and was a disappointment to many. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen by a long shot,” says Grand Isle’s Dean Blanchard, once the largest shrimp buyer on the coast. “The white shrimp are born right here near the coast. They can’t make it through this oil. These are born to die conditions.”

Blanchard says fishermen continue to report dead dolphins in the area on a daily basis, something he says was unheard of in previous years. And on Thursday he took a trip to some oyster beds in nearby Barataria Bay that had been seeded with oyster spat to try to encourage them to come back to life. Instead they found death and devastation. “Everything was dead and the cages were full of oil. No one down here is being held accountable.”

Dean Blanchard, like many along the Gulf, also continue to have problems being compensated for the damages they have suffered from BP’s oil spill, despite all those promises from BP:

Dean Blanchard says he has given up on getting help from BP or the government. He says his business lost at least $6 million due to impacts of the BP blowout, yet BP has paid him just $1 million so far. He’s had to lay off more than half of his employees and now is wondering if he just may have to shut down altogether. “BP has turned by life upside down, and I don’t know what’s coming next. I may have to close down and go into the oil business because that seems to be the only thing left.”

And through it all, Feinberg maintains his actions with the GCCF have been “vindicated,” that the Gulf is heading towards a fast recovery, that if people, including most of those in the seafood industry, don’t raise revenues by 5% each quarter, their interim payments will be cut back and hey, final payments could be reduced in the future as well.

Feinberg maintains all will be well in the Gulf by 2013.

He continues to condition final payments upon claimants waiving their rights to sue BP, the no-sue clause, thus rendering said claimants ineligible for any further compensation from BP on an unknown future.

In fact, despite the troubles fishermen are reporting with their catches, Feinberg shrugs his shoulders and tightens up GCCF interim claims saying that since all federal and most state fishing grounds have been reopened this shows improvement in the seafood industry’s ability to get back to a way of life stolen from them by BP. He also reports an increase in catches of shrimp in the first few months of 2011…a brown shrimp season many shrimpers call a disaster.

Hey Ken?

The Gulf of Mexico is still in trouble and you are not protecting claimants, you are protecting BP, and along with BP you are morally culpable.

Read the article from Rocky Kirstner:

A Storm of Anxiety About Fresh Oil Batters the Gulf

Have a nice day.

Kinda feels a little light...

Something I mentioned a few days ago, the arguments beginning about the allocation of the fine BP will pay for its oil spill…economy versus environment… and yeah, I get that some people would love to get renovations done for the Port of Mobile, but Louisiana is losing a large section of its, well, of its geographical state. Yes, we all knew that, but a recently released map spells it all out in greater detail…

“A new map produced by the U.S. Geological Survey National Wetlands Research Center has confirmed that during a 78-year period between 1932 and 2010, roughly 1,883 square miles, or 25 percent of Louisiana’s wetlands have been lost to combined elements of erosion due to tropical storms and hurricanes as well as coastal cutting by industry, the construction of certain dams and levees and most significantly the rerouting of major waterways including the Mississippi River following the great flood of 1927 that robbed the region of needed sediment for prolonged survival.”

And not to put too fine a point on it, but:

“Researchers specifically noted the Terrebonne Basin, Breton Sound, Barataria, and communities including Golden Meadow, Grand Isle, Houma, Thibodaux and New Orleans as populated areas of greatest concern.”

Which isn’t to say that other states in the region haven’t lost or aren’t deserving of their fair share of the money…they have and they are, but when the money is allocated, perhaps this time, just this once, politicians will drop the politics in favor of the foresight necessary to truly address a problem rather than commissioning one more study that wastes another few years…

…or not.

Read the article:

Wetlands map reveals south La’s coastline losses

Have a nice day.

Via American Zombie…(oops)

Meet Capt. Louis Bayhi…

Before the spill he had a lucrative business, his health and the health of his family, a home, cars…but now, he’s lost his house, his vehicles and he and his family are staying at a relative’s. He’s also sick, and so are his daughters who came to swim in the waters around Grand Isle, after he was assured by BP and the government that the water was safe…it wasn’t.

Let him tell it to you…and know he is one of many who are suffering the same current fate…without health insurance, and not being taken care of…

British Petroleum and Bob Dudley, Ken Feinberg and the GCCF…things have not been made whole, not in the least and the two of you and your companies/organizations are directly responsible…

Everybody but those two…

Have a nice day.

Gulf breeze might clear their heads...

Simple,

If you really want to make sure Louisiana gets all the money they need for coastal restoration, only one thing really needs to happen…

Pass a bill in Congress requiring Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America to build new corporate headquarters and base their operations in Grand Isle.

Just a thought…

Have a nice day

C'mon people! How many times does the NOAA and BP have to tell you it's all good in the Gulf! Damn! You're all so freakin' entitled!

So, let’s take a look at a few recent headlines, shall we?

From the Tri-Parish Times, tar balls are again seen coming ashore on Elmer’s Island. The Louisiana Bucket Brigade’s Peter Brabeck, an environmental monitor, spotted the new oil deposits and called them “the worst instance of oil contamination since the BP oil spill.”

From the newsstar.com, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries expert said the states fisheries and coast could feel the impact of the Gulf oil Spill for generations, “The dispersant worked in fragmenting the oil, but LSU scientists tell us there will be traceable quantities of oil longer than anyone here will be alive.”

From ABC WEAR, the Southern Environmental Law Center states Alabama’s coastline is the most environmentally threatened place in the South East United States and is facing immediate and potentially irreversible damage because of the continued threat of oil.

Sounds pretty bad, sounds like they should be doing as many studies as possible, you know, to determine the extent of the damage, to limit it as much as possible and find the best way to fight it, to make sure the fish are safe to eat, to determine for sure as the oil continues to come ashore in the future, years into the future, you know, whose oil it is that’s still screwing things up…I mean, everyone will assume it’s all a result of BP, but can ya prove it in court? After all, it ain’t what we think is right, it’s what we can prove.

So, let the studies and the analysis commence!

The more we understand, the better we can fight, the more we work together, the better our analysis, the more we can prove, the better we can get the financing from those so culpable to pay for fixing this whole mess. Information is good, information is necessary…all together everybody, let’s get to work, let’s do this, let’s…wait a minute…what?

Gulf-oil studies stalled by scarce samples…frustration of independent researchers spills out over suspended distribution by British Petroleum/US Government.

Oh yeah…right…I forgot myself for a moment…this is the Gulf of Mexico.

Turns out that ever since the Macondo Well was capped back in July, oil samples necessary for the exploration of ecological effects and to develop a better response have become increasingly scarce and currently, distribution has stopped.

So, who has the oil? Who’s gumming up the necessary environmental analysis?

1. British Petroleum

“At least as far back as September, BP began issuing a standard letter to independent researchers who requested samples, stating “Requests for source oil will be delayed…” pending development of protocols for dealing with available oil collected after the blowout. The impetus for ending distribution, BP says, was a general preservation order issued by a federal judge soon after the well was capped, which prohibited any evidence destruction. Although the order does not specifically address the oil samples, BP spokeswoman Hejdi Feick says that the company took a conservative approach in its response.

The standard letter promises that the company will develop protocols “over the next several weeks” to allow resumption of sample distribution — but no date for this has been set, according to Feick. “Our best estimate at the time we stopped providing samples did not account for all of the activity that has been necessary to ensure that BP could meet its legal obligations and resume providing material for researchers,” she says.”

2. The NOAA and the NRDC

US government agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and companies they contract also collected substantial quantities of oil for use in the official Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process, which is being used to determine BP’s liability. Although NRDA trustees filled some sample requests for small quantities, Greg Baker, an environmental scientist at NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration in Seattle, Washington, says that they too had to suspend distribution to be sure that there would be enough oil to support the legal case.

Andrew Zimmerman, a biogeochemist at the University of Florida began requesting samples back in July and was bounced back and forth between various factions of BP until he received the denial letter on September 23rd. Andrew Whitehead, a biologist at LSU, also requested samples and was turned down by BP, “I think the lack of samples will prevent important research from getting done,” says Whitehead. Ira Leifer, an oil spill expert at UC-Santa Barbara, who was part of the US government led task force that produced the official flow-rate estimate was also turned down.

And what were these three scientists attempting to study? The effects of the oil spill on marsh plants and possible clean up methods, the effects of the oil spill on fish, and a way to improve the remote sensing of surface oil. Leifer eventually gave up and went out to the Gulf to collect samples of his own and also obtained dispersant samples by what he described as “unofficial means.” He couldn’t get the dispersant from Nalco, because in order to do so he would have had to sign nondisclosure agreements.

It would seem only rational for the common-sense individual to see all this maneuvering as a way for the US government to control the information that runs against their official narrative and for BP, a strategy to minimize the information available to the public about the extent of damage.

British Petroleum, of course, says nothing could be further from the truth, “BP has no intention of withholding samples of the variety of source oils we have collected,” says BP spokesperson, Hejdi Feick, “except as is essential to ensure that BP retains adequate quantities of each type of oil to satisfy its legal requirements.”

Yeah, because if there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past nine months, it’s that British Petroleum is always concerned about their legal requirements, just as concerned as the US government’s is in keeping the public informed with the truth, about the Gulf of Mexico and their response.

Ah, another beautiful morning in the Gulf…

Have a nice day.

You're doing a heckuva job, Kennie...

Several meetings over two days, 2-300 people a meeting and so many, overwhelmingly critical of the GCCF’s Kenneth Feinberg who stood in front of everyone and extended his empathy, said he was doing the best he could, repeatedly said he would check into it, look it up, see what he could do while at the same time emphasizing the people harmed by BP’s oil spill have three options, quick, interim and final payments.

And by many accounts, he gave the appearance of listening.

But among the hundreds of complaints, a large number were critical of the form they must sign to receive the money, the form that waives their right to sue BP and over a hundred other companies for the damage done to the Gulf, the damage that has yet to be fully understood, by anyone.

And though Feinberg listened, nodded and promised, it would appear he heard nothing.

The administrator of the $20 billion Gulf oil spill victims’ fund isn’t yielding to pressure to change a release form that requires those accepting a final compensation payment to give up their right to sue. Washington attorney Ken Feinberg told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the form stands. He spoke to AP after a town hall meeting in Louisiana with spill victims.

Step right up, folks…this oil spill ain’t over, but your time to decide is running out…

Consider the fishing and environmental front:

Oil residue from the BP spill is still being hauled off by the truckload each day from the beaches of the barrier islands off the Mississippi Gulf coast. In another part of the Gulf set to reopen for fishing on Feb 2nd, a shrimpers’ nets are coming out of the water covered in oil. Florida Fishermen are dealing with the anxiety of knowing fish populations collapsed after the Exxon Valdez disaster. A flotilla of Wildlife and Fisheries boats sped into Bay Jimmy at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico in Plaquemines Parish, passing flocks of white pelicans, some still coated in oil. On Blood Beach, Mississippi, billions of baby clam and oyster shells washed up on shore. In the coastal areas of St. Bernard Parish, more than 8 months after the oil spill, their industry has come to a standstill; a fisherman adds there’s not much seafood to sell. At Grand Isle, LA, Louisiana Bucket Brigade’s environmental monitor Peter Brabeck said oil is rolling in on the beaches of the state park and nearby. “I’ve been here many times and I’ve never seen it looking like this,” Brabeck said of the oil mixing in with the beach sands, turning it black.

“A disaster. A catastrophe. Whatever you want to call it. Worst than Katrina,” said fisherman Emile Serigne.

And equally alarming, on the health front:

Dr. Rodney Soto, a medical doctor in Santa Rosa Beach stated he is finding disconcertingly consistent and high levels of toxic chemicals in every one of the patients he is testing, “I’m regularly finding between five and seven VOCs in my patients…these patients include people not directly involved in the oil clean-up, as well as residents that do not live right on the coast. These are clearly related to the oil disaster.”

Many of the chemicals present in the oil and dispersants are known to cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, kidney damage, altered renal functions, irritation of the digestive tract, lung damage, burning pain in the nose and throat, coughing, pulmonary edema, cancer, lack of muscle coordination, dizziness, confusion, irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, and throat, difficulty breathing, delayed reaction time, memory difficulties, stomach discomfort, liver and kidney damage, unconsciousness, tiredness/lethargy, irritation of the upper respiratory tract, and hematological disorders.

“I’m concerned with the illnesses like cancer and brain degeneration for the future. This is very important because a lot of the population down here may not have symptoms. But people are unaware they are ingesting chemicals that are certainly toxic to humans and have significant effect on the brain and hormonal systems.” Dr. Soto is most concerned about the long-term effect of the toxins, because they have “tremendous implications in the human immune system, hormonal function, and brain function.”

But all this notwithstanding, Feinberg and the GCCf require claimants to sign the no-sue clause to receive quick and final payments, and after doing so Gulf Coast residents will have no recourse anymore…

None.

Fish depopulation? Ongoing health affects, a hurricane hitting the Gulf to stir much of the remaining oil back to the surface?

Nope.

Feinberg held five meetings in Mississippi and Louisiana and listened to over a thousand people. Despite extending empathy and apology, he extended little else to anyone…

Shrimper Elmer Rogers, who broke down at the meeting in Laffitte, Louisiana, fell to his knees in front of the neutral arbitrator and pleaded with Feinberg, “I’m not asking for the world. I’m just asking for something to live on…Thanksgiving, my kids barely ate. I barely ate,” Rogers said. Christmas was even worse for his young daughter. “You know what she woke up to? No water in the house and no power. Let me go turn my water on. Let me go pay my bills,” Rogers added before dropping to his knees in front of a packed room. “What do I have to do, get down on my knees?”

When the Laffitte meeting was over, Feinberg commented “I fully understand the emotion, and I’ve got to deal with it.”

That’s nice and all to say to the AP, Ken, but according to your interview with the Associated Press?

You still don’t understand a damned thing.

Have a nice day.

I said, you have three options, but really, I only mean the middle one...

So Feinberg comes down to the Gulf Coast to speak to residents and explain the three options available to people filing claims and is now halfway through his meetings, held in Moss Point, Bay St. Louis and Grand Isle…and what happens?

Well, what did you think would happen?

In Moss Point:

John Fraleigh of Kiln, Miss said he is barely hanging on. He’s a month late on his mortgage and two months behind in his car payment. He owns an industrial erosion control business and a marine products company. Both businesses have tanked since the spill, down 95 percent. He lost one contract worth about $300,000 dollars because the job was cancelled after the spill. The GCCF denied him. “I haven’t gotten a dime,” Fraleigh said, “I’m out of time here.”

In Bay St. Louis:

“They pay my son, and turned me down. We fish on the same boat with the same license,” said one person at the meeting.

“My 11-year-old child has tested positive for the chemicals from the oil. Who is going to see him?” said another person at the meeting.

“I got 62 pages of documentation. 62 pages,” said one angry man. “Everything y’all asked for I provided. Y’all say 30 to 90 days away for a minimum claim to be paid for? What is my family supposed to do until then?”

In Grand Isle:

Another fisher, Michael Frazier of Grand Isle, said he has received a single payment for $5,800. “I made more money in the first two days of last year’s shrimp season than I got for my six-month settlement,” Frazier said.

What it would appear Feinberg fails to realize is the problem in the Gulf Coast is not that people don’t understand the three options: quick payments, interim payments and final payments, the problem is that the GCCF is a broken system. As tar balls continue to wash up in Grand Isle and nobody knows the future of the fishing industry, the tourism industry and every other industry that depends on those soiled waters of the Gulf, to make people choose not to sue BP, to accept quick payments or whatever payments applies a lot of pressure to a people who are given few answers. And in the midst of this pressure, to have chosen a payment option from the depths of financial straits only to feel lied to, delayed, obstructed by the GCCF, the very organization that is supposed to provide these payments makes an intolerable situation far, far worse.

Take the interim payment as an example of the pressures being faced :

This is the plan Feinberg continues to emphasize to people who question the effectiveness of the clean-up and the government promises that all is a-ok with the fishing industry. Feinberg states that people don’t have to waive the right to sue BP to get the interim payment, a check every three months up through 2013, as long as you can continue to prove losses as a result of the spill. Whereas this might sound reasonable, when one listens to the horror stories about the dealings with the GCCF, the denials, the endless struggles with red tape while trying to keep creditors at bay, and then Feinberg, the neutral arbitrator is quoted in USA today back on Dec 22nd as saying “”We’re asking everybody right now, scientists, biologists, give us your best estimate … of the status of the Gulf,” Feinberg said. “We’re hearing right now, not much long-term adverse impact.”

So, if the arbitrator says interim payments are a way to keep getting paid without waiving the right to sue, and then says, but you will have to prove damages…while at the same time saying he thinks the Gulf is shaping up just fine. What message does that send to someone considering this option? Especially, when considering people who can show damages now, and prove it with paperwork, some of them are being denied anyway.

In Moss Point, Feinberg said, “I understand there’s a lot of anger and frustration…I’m doing my best.”

Not good enough.

In Bay St. Louis, Feinberg said, “I have to come back here and face the music, you cannot simply ignore people like this.”

Listening to people yell at you during a meeting and then moving on without changing anything doesn’t mean you haven’t ignored them.

In Grand Isle, Feinberg said, “”I’m trying to do the right thing…this is an unprecedented job. There are thousands and thousands and thousands of claims. But we’re getting through them, and the money is going out.”

That would depend on who you ask, Ken.

Feinberg stated he would be making some changes to the payment system and all those changes would have the opportunity to be reviewed by local officials before being implemented. He also said that final payments will begin being reviewed on Feb 1st. What isn’t abundantly clear is whether the people who have applied and are waiting for their final payment already, will have to wait ninety days for their payment from when it was received, or from February 1st, when they begin being reviewed.

Karen Hopkins, a Grand Isle resident and seafood worker, handed Feinberg an online petition calling for his resignation, “We don’t feel like you have given us choices,” she said. “What you have presented to us are ultimatums.”

Very true, Karen and well said…here’s the petition:

Kenneth Feinberg, you are fired!

Have a nice day.

Don't worry about it, they've almost got a plan...

Approaching nine months after the Deepwater Horizon exploded, spilling 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, sensitive marshes off the coast of Louisiana are still covered with oil. Friday, state and local representatives took the media on a tour of Barataria Bay, showing an area where the oil continues to destroy the marshes and also where protective boom is gone or has been eaten away by the oil to the point of being useless.

While Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish gave a press conference to highlight the continued destruction of Louisiana’s protective wetlands, he was interrupted by Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Dan Lauer who said, “Clearly there is oil here in the marsh but we are working as a team to find a best way to clean it up…it’s a high priority.”

“It’s like you’re in bed with BP,” Nungesser replied.

Interesting…

The Coast Guard is working on a plan.

Almost 9 months later.

When asked, Lauer gave few details as to what this plan entailed. They also couldn’t explain why there are no protective measures in the marsh to keep things from getting any worse. Lauer did however emphasize that “No one has ever said, it’s over, we’re going home.”

Ah…I see, but what does BP say?

British Petroleum spokesman Daren Beaudo said in an e-mail that with the exception of the occasional tar ball, there is no evidence of significant amounts of oil from the blown out well reaching the Louisiana shoreline since the end of August.

Ah…I see, perhaps he should tell that to the residents of Grand Isle, Louisiana, where some company’s oil is continuing to wash ashore…

From the Times-Picayune: BP has scaled back its cleanup efforts from 48,000 workers during the summer to 6,000 now. That has prompted some local officials to complain in recent weeks that the work has slowed down on the heels of the 2011 tourism season. Earlier this week, Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts also complained that clean up on the beaches of Grand Isle was at “neutral.”

Elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, tar balls are washing up in Perdido Key, Florida, on Gulf Shores, Alabama, and the shores of Mississippi. The oil is still coming ashore in four Gulf Coast states, but as we found out yesterday, the NOAA and the Coast Guard are working on a plan, all while BP denies and cuts down the amount of cleanup workers.

“This is the biggest cover-up in the history of America,” Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser told reporters, gesturing with his gloved right hand, which was covered in oil.

Agreed.

Have a nice day.