An old fashioned clock, a family heirloom holding its place on a worn fireplace mantle, chimes the ten o’clock hour. The silence the strikes disrupt is loud, louder than the churning waves of the gulf, of the boat motor that once went out into the waters, of the wall-phone ringing… Probably just another creditor. The couple sitting at the table don’t even look up. Answering … Continue reading A family, not a statistic…
Ken Feinberg believes the Gulf of Mexico will be recovered by 2012. British Petroleum disputes this time-table as being too lengthy. A new study released by the University of Georgia however, reveals Feinberg and BP may both be inhaling far too many fumes from their vanishing oil. At a science conference in Washington Saturday, marine scientist Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia showed the results of … Continue reading Hey Ken? The oil’s still there…
I’ve been writing a lot over the past few months about Kenneth Feinberg and the failings of the GCCF. Some might even say I’ve become obsessed, but no, not really…it’s just that it’s become increasingly apparent that the Gulf Coast Claims Facility is the third tragedy in five years to hit the Gulf Coast, after Katrina and the Army Corps of Engineer’s levees and after … Continue reading The man behind the curtain…Lest we forget
As told before, but it bears repeating, the LEAN network released the blood test results from 12 Gulf Coast residents that were sampled in September, November and December and here’s the results: Benzene: 4 blood samples, 11.9 to 35.8 times higher than the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Educational Survey) 95th percentile. Ethlybenzene: detected in all twelve blood samples, all in excess of the NHANES … Continue reading Obama, BP…remain silent…about health, and everything else
You might think it would be fair for any denied claimant in the Gulf Coast to be able to take their denial letter to a real person at some GCCF office and talk about it, discuss the reasoning for the denial, figure out a way to improve their claim…in other words, have some kind of a negotiation to come up with a just solution. Nope, … Continue reading It’s good to be the king…
The Gulf Coast Claims Facility was created with the stated purpose of handling claims brought by the people so harmed when British Petroleum spilled millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It was supposed to be done fairly, and with haste and this was promised by its neutral arbitrator, Ken Feinberg. Neither appears to have happened. The claims process is not perceived … Continue reading The GCCF: Sowing the Seeds of Discord
So how was your New Year’s Eve? For Ken Feinberg it was a splendid night at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House where he rubbed shoulders with wealth and celebrity, including Natalie Portman, J Christopher Flowers, Donald Tober and Eric Bogosian. The opera, Verdi’s “La Traviata” was reportedly a tremendous success and enjoyed by all. Meanwhile… Dan Ford, owner of Gulf Coast Tire and Automotive received … Continue reading A Night at the Opera…
Who do you trust? Who do you believe? Who’s looking out for you and who is not? Such are the questions in the Gulf Coast, about the claims process and the safety of Gulf seafood. In the federal version, the seafood is fine, the FDA is doing their testing and everything is coming up aces while Feinberg is doing his best as a neutral arbitrator … Continue reading Who do you trust?
Clearly defined rules. It isn’t that difficult, or at least it shouldn’t be. In any process where a determination is made, where a judgment will be proffered, clearly defined rules not only protect the claimant, they protect the arbitrator. Rules let people know where they stand, what they need to do, what damage they need to show and upon showing said damage, they then have … Continue reading It’s the Transparency, Stupid…
Two interesting articles about the operations from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility in the Times Picayune yesterday, discussing some of the problems many of the fishermen have been having in their attempts to receive compensations from the fund, and some of Feinberg’s responses to these problems. Some highlights: On the plight of Elmer Rogers, a shrimper who has been waiting for compensation since August: “If … Continue reading GCCF Follies from the Times-Picayune…
Drake Toulouse: Photography and Words 