So, back in February of this year, I started to receive e-mails from people about a certain investigative company called Guidepost Solutions. The long and short of it is claimants were assured back then their Quick Pay Claims were a no-questions asked plan. Claimants, if they had received an EAP from the GCCF could file the paperwork, sign away their rights to sue BP, and … Continue reading Guidepost Solutions, revisited…
Ed Note: The USCG now taking a fresh look at pictures of the oil they previously denied was there. Look, I’m not trying to play the role of conspiracy buff here, but if there is one thing any of us who follow the oil spill news knows, it is: 1. Truth takes a second place to narrative. 2. Order of response: deny everything, and if … Continue reading More about the (not) leaking Macondo Well…
From Rocky Kirstner’s blog at the NRDC: “David is not optimistic. He sees too many signs that things are not right with the shrimp catches so far. But what worries David even more is what he’s seeing—or not seeing—in the waters 20 miles offshore. He’s not seeing many small bait fish that snapper and mackerel–all predator fish–depend on. David says many fish bellies he sees are often empty, … Continue reading The quotes that scare me…
Feinberg just changed the rules again. On Tuesday, he added a rules modification to the GCCF claims process, designed to tighten payout criteria. “It is clear, that as time passes, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine whether changes in revenue and earnings are due to the oil spill or other factors,” the notice said. Clear…how clear exactly? 5% clear. Those (both business and individual) who continue … Continue reading Feinberg’s five percent modification…
Last month, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood filed a lawsuit against Ken Feinberg, stating he and the GCCF had not complied with a subpoena issued last February asking for full access to GCCF records so Hood’s office could put them under review. Among other things, Hood alleges that Feinberg has intentionally stalled payments to oil spill claimants in the hopes financial desperation will encourage settlements … Continue reading Feinberg stalls Hood’s lawsuit…
David Pitofsky, Feinberg’s attorney, stated yesterday in a court filing it is their belief the GCCF already has adequate oversight so there is no need for the court to order any additional supervision, “The GCCF is already effectively supervised by the Coast Guard and several committees of Congress, and it has voluntarily agreed with the Department of Justice to an independent audit of the claims … Continue reading Ken says he already has enough oversight…again
After the Deepwater Horizon exploded 16 months ago, the people of the Gulf Coast were made a successive series of promises by the government, by British Petroleum and then by the administrator of the GCCF, Ken Feinberg. In their own ways, each entity promised to make the Gulf Coast whole again…first through clean-up, then through reparations and ultimately by claiming precautions and new guidelines would be … Continue reading One more try for the Gulf Coast, Barbier sets trial date…
Hey all, Rising Tide 6 is coming to Xavier University on August 27th, from 9am-6pm…so really, go register, you won’t regret it… Keynote speakers will be David Simon, creator and executive producer of Treme, and Richard Campenella, who among other things, wrote Bienville’s Dilemma which is a great, great book about the geography of New Orleans and how it contributed to or even defined much … Continue reading It’d be about that time…Rising Tide 6!
Congratulations, and thanks much for the continued coverage of the spill and aftermath… “Times-Picayune reporter David Hammer won a national environmental reporting award Monday for his coverage of the BP oil spill. The Society of Environmental Journalists announced the winners of the 2010-2011 Awards for Reporting on the Environment. Hammer reported on the risky decisions and lax safety practices that led to the April 20, … Continue reading Congratulations, David…
A delegation travelled to London this week to accuse BP of ignoring the claims of minorities and the damages they sustained from the oil spill. “The 5-member delegation represents Operation People for Peace, a coalition that advocates for those who were harmed by the spill but were left out of the compensation process, according to the group’s founder, Art Rocker. Rocker, a Pensacola minister and … Continue reading BP: talk to Feinberg, Feinberg: they did, and the answer is no…
Drake Toulouse: Photography and Words 