The Future of BP and the Gulf Spill Claims and Clean-up
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-07-08/future-bp-and-gulf-spill-claims-and-clean
Governor Bob Riley and Kenneth Feinberg (black suit) discuss a quicker way to help disperse the allocated funds at a press conference at Cotton Creek Club in Gulf Shores, AL. 01 July 2010
Flickr user BP America
The administrator of the Gulf Coast disaster fund on the $130 million paid out so far to businesses, workers, and others hurt by the BP oil spill. Kenneth Feinberg on the process ahead: who will get what - and when from BP.
Guests
James Herron
Dow Jones Newswires Reporter based in London
Kenneth Feinberg
the government-appointed administrator of the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Victim Compensation Fund; a former Special Master of the U.S. Government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and former Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation.
Steven Mufson
energy correspondent for the Washington Post
Comments
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Diane
Love your show. My question is about the nature of this accident - is this Gulf Spill a BP-specific incident? Could the same kind of catastrophe happen with other oil companies?
If the circumstance is that this type of accident can happen with any given oil company, shouldn't we treat this Spill as an INEVITABLE consequence of our energy consumption?
Has anyone proposed adding to the cost of energy we use by charging the oil companies a fee to fund a cleanup fund?
Thanks,
Bing Wu
Kirkland, WA
Kirklander,
My question is "Could we reasonably expect a similar environmental disaster when an accident happens on a land based oil rig, or a shallow water rig?"
Hello Diane, I am a Realtor on Pine Island off of Southwest Florida. My business (which was busy through mid-May) has come to a screeching halt since the BP Spill. All my buyers are on hold until the oil spill is resolved. I normally would have income of $16,000 in the months of May and June. I have had 0 income generated in those months and filed a claim for $16,000. on June 24. I called yesterday and BP has no record of receiving my claim, though I have a postal receipt indicating it was received. Please ask your guest if my claim would be honored?
Diane,
I have a question for your guest. He implied that a hotel that is 3 blocks off the beach would not be eligible for damages. Does he not believe that that hotel is still suffering from a loss of business? In fact any business within a mile or so of the Gulf Shore line is being negatively effected, oil or not, this summer.
Thanks for the great conversation.
Jason
please discuss the claims by people who have been working off a cash basis and avoiding taxes. I am especially upset about the folks who have not paid their taxes, yet complain about the government response.
You thought you lost a call in expert, but i was listening on HD radio and the expert appeared on a different speaker of my fm HD system. I don't understand the technology, but I thought you would want to know that the signal jumped channels rather than being lost.
Hi, it is Erika again. Yes, I have a claim number. Is there someone I should contact if BP fails to get back to me? Sincerely, Erika on Pine Island
Diane,
I just love your show. Your guest mentioned that they would pay out until it is cleaned up. Who determines that the clean-up is complete?
With regard to folks who can't prove their loss of income, my question is why?
Seems to me they could use their income tax returns.
If theirs is an all-cash business, and they've been doing this to avoid paying income tax, while I am sad for their plight, I'm thinking they've been complicit in creating their current plight.
How can we pay any money to people who have been breaking the law by not paying taxes on income produced for years and maybe generations. If this would not have happened they still would not ever file income taxes and pay their fair share of taxes. They are riding on the backs of lawful wage earners who have to file their taxes. All Americans should be prepared to pay taxes for the services they recieve from their government. BP code speak has been all along "WE will pay for all legimate claims not illegal claims. Bring us your past tax records or else.
Mr Feinberg sounds quite competent to handle the fund. My concern is the frivilious lawsuits that will interfere with the legitimate payouts. I'm sure there will be the people that will find fault with the process. I'm upset with the oil spill, but beware of all the boycotting and punishment threats-they are a thriving company and many pension & retirement are investors. I really doubt that BP wanted this spill and lets wait on the investigation.
Dee Kieft
Fort Myers, FL
Mr Feinberg sounds quite competent to handle the fund. My concern is the frivilious lawsuits that will interfere with the legitimate payouts. I'm sure there will be the people that will find fault with the process. I'm upset with the oil spill, but beware of all the boycotting and punishment threats-they are a thriving company and many pension & retirement are investors. I really doubt that BP wanted this spill and lets wait on the investigation.
Dee Kieft
Fort Myers, FL
We should not even consider paying anything to those people who operated cash only businesses and paid no taxes. These Louisiana people are the first to bitch about the government and regulations and taxes and the first to whine that the government should do something when disaster strikes. What the government should do is ignore them.
BP certainly should be liable for all damage that it caused. However, why should they pay for wages of oil workers lost due to the US government moratorium on off shore drilling? BP actually provided a service of showing that the existing government regulations might be too lax or that other companies might be doing dangerous things, but that is not BP's fault. Can your guests comment?
erikafoye,
Just curious, what if you get compensated by BP fund for each month's loss & then all gets cleaned up in your area by October and in November & December you earn $48K each month?
Is it a loss in income, or a delay in income?
Cash basis taxpayers who have not been paying taxes (that means not just the fed, but state too) may want to consult a lawyer about whether filing a claim for damages can be used by the IRS & state revenue agency against them in the future. (I assume they will need to provide some documentation & that this may be used as evidence of income.)
I assume many people are living on the edge, but do some big businesses carry insurance & would this be covered?
I was disappointed that the guests were not knowledgeable or assertive enough to refute the false claim that it is not possible to blame anyone in particular for tar on beaches. Not true. Each well has an identifiable chemical signature and can be identified as from a particular source, almost like a DNA match.
Next time, call Mike Pappantonio for precise legal analysis or a true unbiased industry professional who bluntly explains every violation of best practices or someone else who is both very knowledgeable and very forthright. This is no time for apologist blather or for this country's currently most notorious corporate criminal.
After the 89 quake the City of San Francisco tore down hundreds of buildings that had minor damage in the hopes of raising the tax base. Thank God they were stopped after a few days by press exposure. A few days after the BP spill the Dutch forewarned the Obama administration that this was a very serious leakage and offered to send four big skimmer ships which could keep up with the spill by removing the heavy components of the spill and leaving those light ends that normally disperse on their own. Seeing the potential for billions of taxable dollars being forced into the sluglish American economy Obama blocked this offer and similar offers from over 20 other nations which keep on standby very high tech skimmers. He has also blocked the use of several skimmers here in America. The press has been virtually silent on this matter. Shame on the American press…….
I am disappointed that you are not knowledgeable about tar on beaches. Such tar balls are not like DNA because most of the light ends are degraded or evaporated. In fact the vast majority of tar balls on the world’s beaches are from natural seepage. The Babylonians gathered them up and used it for mortar and sealing their ships 3000 years ago as did other ancient people. Every year there is twice as much natural seepage into the Gulf of Mexico as the Valdese spill. Educate yourself and check it out. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/01/000127082228.htm When they started drilling for oil off the California coast it actually relived the pressure to the extent that for the last several decades there are no tar balls washing on the beach there. If you believe in a clean environment you should be in favor of drilling in the Gulf….
I'm surprised no one seems to notice the tremendous benefit this "accident" has had for BP. Now they are not only free to drill new deep water wells but are being encouraged by the government agencies who normally require lengthy permitting processes to "just do it." It seems like this "accident" is one of the luckiest things which could have happened to an industry so heavily regulated. They now get to bypass virtually all the established regulations and drill all the new wells they wish. Except for the loss of oil, which apparently is minimal in relationship to the actual source, BP will now be able to access two or three times as much oil through the new wells as it otherwise would not have been allowed to drill.
Sincerely,
Dr Thom
Miss Rehm
I am a frequent listener to your program and enjoy it. However there are times when your guests get it wrong. I certainly wish that the differences between barrels of oil and gallons was more obvious to people whose opinion is being sought.
However two inaccuracies of fact and basic knowledge in one sentence from the energy reporter from , I believe , The Washington post was too much. In commenting on the possible criminal liability of BP over the spill in the gulf, he referred to the jailing of Ken Lay and the criminal conviction of Arthur Anderson, in the matter of advice to Enron. Ken Lay died of a heart attack in Aspen Colorado before sentencing and the Supreme Court recently overturned the criminal conviction of Arthur Anderson. The correct facts should be important to reporters and especially so when they are participating in a debate with none other than the man charged with administrating one of the largest privately funded damage claims in history. Note how careful he was with his answers in your show.
Jeffrey Clarke