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Kenneth Feinberg
US Judge: Spill Claims Czar Not Independent of BP
By not in system - AOL NewsNEW ORLEANS -- The administrator of the $20 billion compensation fund for Gulf oil spill victims is not independent from BP and must stop telling potential claimants that he is, a federal judge said in a ruling Wednesday that may spur more people to sue rather than settle. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said claims czar Ken Feinberg and any of his agents must change the way they communicate with people seeking money from the fund. The ruling came just hours after Feinberg released details on how final payments would be determined. The ruling cuts at the heart of one of Feinberg's central ...
BP's Fund Czar: Gulf OK by 2012, Except for Oysters
By Laura Parker - AOL NewsWASHINGTON -- With the exception of oysters, the Gulf of Mexico will recover by the end of 2012, according to an evaluation of environmental and economic conditions made by the administrator of BP's $20 billion compensation fund. But oysters could take six to 10 years to recover to pre-spill levels. The Gulf Coast produces two-thirds of the nation's oyster harvest. That assessment will be used by Kenneth Feinberg, the fund's administrator, to determine how much to pay to settle final claims by fishermen, shrimpers, motel owners and other businesses affected by the spill. Spill victims ...
BP Has Made Only 1 Final Payment: $10M to Texas Firm
By Laura Parker - AOL NewsWASHINGTON -- BP's oil spill pay czar has paid only one of nearly 91,000 claims seeking final payment from the oil giant's $20 billion fund set up to compensate victims of the spill -- and that was $10 million to a Texas firm, according to the fund's records. The lone payment fueled accusations of favoritism and delay that have dogged the program for months. Tony Kennon, mayor of Orange Beach, Ala., a tourist town hit hard by the spill, told The Associated Press that the early payment "reeks of favoritism." Patrick Semansky, AP BP oil spill fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg, ...
A Conversation With BP's Pay Czar, Kenneth Feinberg
By Laura Parker - AOL NewsKenneth Feinberg, the pay czar for BP's oil spill victims' compensation fund, will be back in the news this week and next as he works through another round of meetings with spill victims and public officials along the Gulf Coast. But even though Feinberg has paid out almost $3 billion to 168,000 claimants, don't expect to read about any love-fests. The town of Grand Isle, La., prepared for its session with the 65-year-old lawyer by gathering signatures on a petition that asks for Feinberg to be fired. In the four months that Feinberg has been handing out checks from BP's $20 billion fund, he ...
AGs Say BP's Proposed Fund Changes Hurt Victims
By Laura Parker - AOL News
WASHINGTON (Nov. 19) -- Kenneth Feinberg, czar of BP's $20 billion compensation fund, has proposed changes to the next round of claims that would favor BP and make the process more difficult for the shrimpers, fishermen and other victims of the oil spill, the attorneys general of two states have charged. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, in a Nov. 9 letter obtained exclusively by AOL News, said that changes to rules for interim and final payments appear "not to assist people in the Gulf, but to assist BP ..." Hood listed eight "concerns" he had after reviewing the proposed changes, ...
Film Shows Dilemma Faced by Gulf Residents
By Laura Parker - AOL News
(Oct. 25) -- "With Katrina, we knew what we had to do," Marla Cooper, of Venice, La., says a few minutes into "Crude Justice," a new 17-minute film about the BP oil spill. "We rebuilt. But for this, how do we rebuild?" The film, which premieres Tuesday evening in Washington, does not answer that question. Victims trying to recoup their economic losses can negotiate payments from BP's $20 billion fund, administered by Kenneth Feinberg, or join the thousands of other residents of the Gulf of Mexico region who have already sued BP in federal court. Crude Justice from Alliance for Justice on ...
BP Claims Czar Promises Bigger, Quicker Payouts
By Dave Thier - AOL News(Sept. 27) -- Responding to criticism that payments for victims of BP's oil spill have been slow and inadequate, Gulf Coast Claims Facility administrator Kenneth Feinberg has promised to reform the system to help alleviate the massive financial impact of the disaster. "Over the past few weeks, I have heard from the people of the Gulf, elected officials, and others that payments remain too slow and not generous enough," Feinberg said in a statement over the weekend. "I am implementing new procedures that will make this program more efficient, more accelerated and more generous." According to ...
Sealing of BP Oil Well Doesn't Eliminate Questions and Anxiety
By Ben Sandmel - Politics DailyNow that the BP oil spill has been capped for two months -- and completely sealed for good as of Sunday -- national interest in its aftermath has slackened considerably. But unresolved issues continue to concern the people living along the Gulf of Mexico who are caught in a swirl of anxiety and contradictory data. Such pressing matters include these question: Is it safe to eat local seafood? Has all the spilled oil been accounted for? Will people who lost months of pay and profit really get full compensation from BP via the federal government? There are few conclusive answers, and ...
'Master of Disaster' Ken Feinberg: From 9/11 to BP
By Andrea Stone - AOL NewsWASHINGTON (Sept. 10) -- Kenneth Feinberg may have to rewrite the book on the Sept. 11 attacks. In "What Is Life Worth?" -- his 2005 account of his experience as special master of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund -- the lawyer and mediator wrote that his work putting a value on the lives lost or scarred in the attack nine years ago Saturday was "the greatest challenge of my career." Joe Raedle, Getty Images Ken Feinberg, administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility for BP's $20 billion compensation fund, speaks with the media after a public meeting in June. That was before the BP oil ...
Gulf Coast Claims Facility Opens for Business
By Dana Chivvis - AOL News(Aug. 23) -- The Gulf Coast Claims Facility is open for business as of this morning. Independent administrator Ken Feinberg is manning the cash register, ready to hand out money from BP's $20 billion oil spill compensation fund to individuals and businesses that were hurt by the spill. Those who want to file a claim can do so online, by mail or at one of 35 claims centers in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The Gulf Coast Claims Facility will be holding three town hall meetings in Mississippi this morning. BP has already paid out $368 million in claims. That money is ...
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