[Vision2020] Shirking Responsibility in the Gulf

[Art Deco]

  [image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/>

------------------------------
July 30, 2013
Shirking Responsibility in the Gulf By STEPHEN TEAGUE

BILOXI, Miss. — IF you don’t live near the Gulf Coast, you may have the
impression that the area has fully recovered from the BP Deepwater Horizon
oil spill in 2010, the largest environmental disaster in American history.
Sadly, that’s not the case for tens of thousands of gulf residents still
trying to put their lives back together.

That is, however, what BP wants the public to believe — which is why it is
now engaged in an aggressive legal and public-relations campaign to limit
how much it pays individuals and businesses for the losses its reckless
behavior caused. After having a hand in this huge disaster, the company
wants to leave these communities to rebuild on their own, even as it takes
in record profits.

The spill resulted in the release of more than 200 million gallons of oil
into the Gulf of Mexico and the deaths of 11 people. In September 2011 a
federal investigation found BP responsible for the leak, and in November
2012 the Department of Justice reached a court settlement with the company
that included a $4.5 billion fine.

In 2010 the company set up a $20 billion fund to settle claims arising from
the disaster, and since then it has made payments to hundreds of thousands
of individuals and businesses affected by the spill. In 2012 a federal
court took over supervision of the fund.

But tens of thousands of gulf residents still haven’t been fully
compensated for their losses, and many are struggling to make ends meet.
Many low-wage workers in the fishing and service industries, for example,
have been seeking compensation for lost wages and jobs for three years. In
many cases, their claims aren’t successful because they can’t afford the
legal help required to navigate the complex claims process.

Their troubles stem in part from BP’s increasingly brazen attempts to
stonewall payouts. Most recently, the company made a motion in court to
freeze payments on tens of thousands of legitimate claims, arguing that a
staff attorney from the Deepwater Horizon Court-Supervised Settlement
Program <http://www.deepwaterhorizonsettlements.com/>, the program
responsible for evaluating compensation claims, had improperly profited
from claims filed by a New Orleans law firm. The attorney is said to have
received portions of settlement claims for clients he referred to the firm.

*But the alleged bad behavior of one attorney does not justify freezing the
payment of all claims, as BP has demanded, especially when the firm handled
a small fraction of the claims that have been submitted for compensation. *In
any case, the attorney has resigned, and Carl J. Barbier, the federal judge
who is overseeing the settlement, ordered an investigation, which is
continuing. So far the judge has refused to freeze payments while the
investigation is under way, a ruling that the company is appealing.

Of course, this isn’t really about the possible extent of the damage done
by the attorney. BP is using the case to cast doubt, both in public and in
the courts, on the entire process. And it’s working: its talking points
have been echoed in mainstream media coverage, which has so far featured
few voices of actual oil-spill victims.

Such guilt by association ignores the robust measures built into the
settlement program to ensure a fair compensation system. The
fraud-detection mechanisms are so extensive that the processing of claims
is slowed down to accommodate them.

Meanwhile, the company has fought aggressively to undermine individual
claims. In some instances, BP has tried to deny payment of claims that its
own settlement program had already deemed legitimate.

The company’s efforts know no bounds and have pushed the claimants and
their legal representatives to the limit. My organization, the Mississippi
Center for Justice, is one of several groups providing pro bono legal
assistance. Since 2011, we have helped approximately 10,000 people navigate
the difficult claims process and obtain money they are owed by BP.

We have seen firsthand the extent to which BP will go to avoid paying even
patently legitimate claims. One claimant with whom we worked, whose
employer closed its doors in the wake of the spill, finally received an
offer for compensation after two years. Then BP appealed the award, seeking
to have it revoked. After he received assistance in countering BP’s appeal,
the company finally admitted that he was, in fact, owed money and withdrew
its appeal of his claim.

But while we can carry on the battle through lawsuits and in the affected
communities, we are outgunned in the court of public opinion. In countless
high-priced TV spots and full-page newspaper ads, the company is selling
the story that it is committed to helping victims of the oil spill and
rebuilding the gulf.

We know different. The company has turned its back on the people whose
lives it derailed. BP must end its stall tactics and keep its promises to
the people of the gulf.

Stephen Teague is a staff attorney at the Mississippi Center for
Justice<http://www.mscenterforjustice.org>.



-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20130731/ac78f4d0/attachment-0001.html>