bpoilspill-blog

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oil spill researchers report trouble getting samples

PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- As the owner of Epic Salon on U.S. 19 in Palm Harbor, Kalli Cora never thought she'd be solicited by a customer and urged to file a claim through him to get paid for supposed damages from last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"I never thought I'd be affected by the oil spill. So I just thought it was kind of weird," she says. "He was kind of like, 'Have you lost money in the past year?' I said, 'Yeah, everyone's lost money from the economy.'"

According to Cora, he said those losses may actually be from the oil spill, and told her to apply for money from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility before her salon loses seasonal customers.

"He was just really jumpy about it, trying to get people. I mean, he went all around the salon trying to get people to fill out these forms," she says.

What really made her suspicious? He solicited personal information, including her Social Security number. Several businesses along U.S. 19, from her hair salon to even a car dealership, say they were approached by this man and told that he was a claims specialist working on behalf of Stout Law Group in Clearwater. In at least one case, the man provided a copy of a contract from Stout Law Group.

Though a representative from the firm would not talk on-camera, he told 10 News that they do know the man and that he has worked in the capacity of a claims specialist in the past. However, that representative calls the man's door-to-door approach "overzealous," and says they're looking into what happened.

Until 2013, businesses and individuals who feel they've been impacted by the oil spill can apply for damage reimbursement through the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. They do not need a lawyer to do this, though they can hire one to make the process easier, or call 855-299-1337 to request free legal help.

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Participants in VoO program can pursue damage claims

People who participated in BP's Vessels of Opportunity program can now pursue claims for damage to their boats and possibly other grievances, even if they settled claims for economic losses from the oil spill with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, according to a letter from BP. But, BP, leaseholder of the ill-fated Macondo well, also says in the letter that it reserves the right to deduct any wages that boat owners earned in the Vessels of Opportunity program from any ultimate settlements.

"The GCCF has overcompensated claimants who participated in the VoO (Vessels of Opportunity) program," the Sept. 21 letter from BP attorney Dan Cantor to GCCF deputy administrator Jackie Zins reads. "BP reserves...the right to account...for VoO compensation that should have been but was not offset from GCCF awards."

Steve Herman, co-lead plaintiffs attorney in the litigation over the April 2010 well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, said in an e-mail that VoO program participants have not been overcompensated, and called the letter "a classic bait and switch" by BP.

"They went out, risked their lives and exposed their boats to oil and dispersants to help BP clean up its mess," Herman said. "In addition, they -- like other fishermen who didn't participate in the VoO program -- suffered, and continue to suffer losses from not being able to shrimp and fish."

The question of whether or not boat owners should have their compensation from oil clean-up work deducted from any economic loss or damage settlements has been hotly contested. On one hand is the principle, reflected in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, that workers harmed by a spill have a duty to mitigate their economic injury, meaning that if someone can reduce their economic pain by finding other work, they should. On the other hand, deducting wages for oil clean-up work would mean that displaced fishermen helped BP clean up its mess for free, and that they would be treated the same as someone who took the summer off and didn't work at all.

In the initial weeks after the spill, BP was deducting wages earned in the oil clean-up program from payments made to commercial fishery workers who were unable to fish, catch shrimp or harvest oysters. When one of Herman's law partners raised concerns about the practice to BP in a May 2010 letter, BP attorney A.T. Chenault responded, "Lastly, we confirm that BP will not offset payments to vessel owners or other volunteers against claims they might have."

Herman says that statement is a pledge from BP that it won't deduct wages earned in the VoO program from ultimate settlements, and that BP reneged on that promise in the Sept. 21 letter.

BP counters that it has been consistent in its position that wages that displaced fishers earned in cleaning up oil in summer 2010 must be deducted from any ultimate settlements, as spelled out in the Oil Pollution Act. The company wrote to Herman in August 2010, dismissing the May letter as unclear. BP said that it regretted "any miscommunication," and that any VoO wages could be deducted from ultimate settlements.

In other correspondence with the GCCF in 2010 and 2011, BP has restated that it believes the claims facility is overpaying people. "To date, the GCCF has not offset from its damages payments amounts earned by claimants from participating in the oil spill response through the Vessels of Opportunity program. OPA requires that VoO earnings are offset from GCCF damages payments," BP says in comments filed with the GCCF in July 2011 about its claims process.

Big money is riding on whether or not VoO compensation is ultimately deducted from settlements: BP has paid about $600 million in wages through the VoO program.

Spokesman Scott Dean said the company's position is clear. "From the outset, BP has been committed to paying all legitimate claims. Legitimate claims do not include claims in excess of actual losses or claims seeking double recovery. Our counsel's letter, which responds to a question posed by several plaintiffs' lawyers, simply reiterates this basic position. If a claimant who received an overpayment from the GCCF subsequently makes a claim to BP for additional VoO compensation, BP is reserving the right to take into account and offset the GCCF's overpayment. This is the law, and it is fair and equitable," he said.

Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility said it will continue compensating claimants without deducting wages earned in the Vessels of Opportunity program. "We are not deducting it. BP is reserving their rights to deduct it when someone makes a property claim or a contract claim to them. What BP does is completely distinct from our program," Zins said. "This letter has no impact on our methodology."

As such, the parties seem to be on a collision course over the issue. But it could get resolved through six test cases of disputes arising from the Vessels of Opportunity program. Attorneys selected six participants in the Vessels of Opportunity program who represent the various issues at stake, and U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier has allowed for limited discovery and depositions and then mediation to find solutions to any problems with the program.

If that fails, plaintiffs in the consolidated litigation over the oil spill have filed a motion for summary judgment over the issue.

For anyone who has settled an economic loss claim with the GCCF, but now wants to pursue a claim over boat damage or other issues from the Vessels of Opportunity program, they must first go to the GCCF. If they are not satisfied with the outcome and want to go to court, the court may come up with a simple form allowing people for file their grievances.

BP's stance that legal releases signed as part of GCCF compensation won't preclude claims for boat damage and other grievances from the Vessels of Opportunity program could have other implications as well. Plaintiff attorney Joel Waltzer has long questioned how waivers that were signed before problems with the Vessels program had become apparent could be binding. Now that BP says it won't enforce releases on Vessels of Opportunity, Waltzer believes it could open the door for attorneys to press for additional relief on fishing for subsistence, property damage and other types of claims.

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BP Cited Over Alleged Safety & Environmental Violations

NEW ORLEANS -- Federal regulators on Wednesday cited oil company BP PLC and two other companies – Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton – for alleged safety and environmental violations stemming from last year's rig explosion and massive Gulf oil spill.

The companies have 60 days to appeal the citations issued by the Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

The bureau says the alleged regulatory violations could result in civil penalties once the appeal period has ended.

These initial citations are the product of a federal government probe of the Deepwater Horizon blast, which killed 11 workers and hastened the nation's worst offshore oil spill.

"To ensure the safe and environmentally responsible conduct of offshore operations, companies that violate federal regulations must be held accountable," BSEE Director Michael R. Bromwich said in a statement. "The joint investigation clearly revealed the violation of numerous federal regulations designed to protect the integrity of offshore operations."

One of the citations accuses well owner BP, rig owner Transocean and cement contractor Halliburton of failing to operate in a "safe and workmanlike manner." Another says the companies "failed to take necessary precautions to keep the well under control at all times."

A report issued last month by the panel of government investigators says BP bears ultimate responsibility for the disaster, which spewed roughly 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf.

BP ignored crucial warnings and made bad decisions during the cementing of the well, but Transocean and Halliburton shared some of the blame, the report concluded.

The bureau said this is the first time the Interior Department has issued citations of this kind directly to a contractor that wasn't the operator of the well.

Transocean spokesman Lou Colasuonno said the company intends to appeal the citations. BP spokesman Scott Dean said the company will respond to the bureau "in due course" once it reviews the citations. A Halliburton spokeswoman said the company reserves its right to appeal.

BP said in a statement that it has taken steps to improve safety and is implementing new, voluntary standards in the Gulf of Mexico that exceed current regulatory requirements.

"We continue to encourage other parties, including Transocean and Halliburton, to acknowledge their responsibilities in the accident, make changes to help prevent similar accidents in the future and step forward to fulfill their obligations to Gulf communities," the company said.

In a statement, Halliburton said it believes it is "fully indemnified" by BP against any loss resulting from the rig disaster, including any penalties imposed by BSEE.

"Halliburton will continue to work with BSEE and is committed to full and open cooperation with regulatory officials," the company said in a statement.

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Unsafe levels of contaminants in seafood after BP oil spill

WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration seriously underestimated the cancer risk from contaminants that can accumulate in seafood when the agency allowed commercial fishing to resume in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP oil spill disaster, a new study published today found.

The study was published online today by the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, authored by Miriam Rotkin-Ellman and Gina Solomon of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

They found that by using flawed assumptions and outdated risk assessment methods, FDA allowed up to 10,000 times too much contamination and failed to identify risks for pregnant women and children.

Based on these findings, NRDC today filed a petition asking FDA to protect the public, especially pregnant women, children, and people who eat a lot of seafood, by setting a standard that limits the level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in seafood. PAHs are chemicals found in oil, industrial pollution, and urban run-off that can cause cancer, birth defects, neurological delays and liver damage.

“Our findings add to a long list of evidence that FDA is overlooking the risks from chemical contaminants in food,” Rotkin-Ellman said. “We must not wait for people to get sick or cancer rates to rise, we need FDA to act now to protect the food supply.”

The study concluded that “FDA risk assessment methods should be updated to better reflect current risk assessment practices and to protect vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and children.”

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Latino Hotel Association Forms Partnership with Law Firm

HOUSTON, Oct 05, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Officials from Latino Hotel Association (LHA), the global organization dedicated to expanding Latino ownership, leadership, and commerce in the hotel industry, today announced a strategic partnership with the Buzbee Law Firm, an organization that represents plaintiffs' interests in a number of fields, including a specialty group created to handle British Petroleum oil spill claims.

Under the partnership agreement, Buzbee and LHA will educate hoteliers on the Deep Water Horizon oil spill and its impact on the lodging industry. Also, the two groups will distribute to LHA members information regarding the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, the claims process and calculation of damages to hoteliers located in the Gulf of Mexico.

"The Buzbee Law Firm has an extensive track record with numerous verdicts in excess of $1 million and a $100 million verdict against British Petroleum, currently the largest verdict against the oil company," said Angela Gonzalez-Rowe, president and founder of LHA. "In the last six months, attorneys at the Buzbee Law Firm have collected for its clients more than $100 million, in addition to more than $1 billion since the firm's inception. Buzbee has recently collected tens of millions for hoteliers affected by the oil spill. Buzbee adds great legal expertise support to our organization and will be an invaluable resource to our members."

"Coupled with LHA, we will offer a bilingual white paper in English and in Spanish on the British Petroleum oil spill, its impact on hoteliers in the United States and Mexico, and potential opportunities to recover lost revenue," said Tony Buzbee, Managing Partner, The Buzbee Law Firm. "One of our primary tasks will be to assist LHA members in filing claims for damages with no upfront costs to the hotelier. Also, we will present an educational forum at the upcoming LHA International Conference in November. We look forward to being of service to the many members of the growing Latino hotelier community."

About The Buzbee Law Firm

Located in Houston, the Buzbee Law Firm specializes in representing employees and small businesses. Founded by Tony Buzbee, the firm has won clients more payments, either through trial or settlement, than those clients represented by competitors. In addition, The Buzbee Law Firm has years of developing close working relationships with some of the best law firms in most major cities in the United States. For more information on The Buzbee Law Firm, please visit www.txattorneys.com .

About the Latino Hotel Association

Headquartered in suburban Houston, LHA is a worldwide, non-profit association dedicated to increasing Latino participation in the hospitality industry, to include ownership, leadership, and commerce. The organization provides education, international and regional conferences, and networking opportunities with the world's leading hotel companies. Additional information is available at the association's website, www.latinohotelassociation.com .

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Attorney Sues BP for Damage to Practice

NEW ORLEANS (CN) - A Biloxi criminal defense lawyer sued BP, Transocean and the other oil-spill defendants in Federal Court, saying his business was hurt by the oil spill, and his claim for relief to BP's Gulf Coast Claims Facility was denied.

James Davis III, whose law office has specialized in criminal defense and personal injuries since 1984, says he's had to lay off an attorney and a secretary since the oil spill "drastically reduced his clients' ability to pay for legal services".

Davis says his claim to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility was denied on July 1. When he asked to appeal, he says, he was told "that the process and time limits to file an appeal were uncertain," and that he would get a response "at a later date."

Davis adds: "The legal claims office through Ken Feinberg claims they are doing a good job. The plaintiffs do not agree with Mr. Feinberg's assessment of his performance."

Feinberg oversees the Gulf Coast Claims Facility for BP, and is paid by BP, an arrangement that has produced some legal grumbling.

Davis' 6-page complaint states: "The Law Office of Jim Davis, primarily a criminal practice, had a substantial client base of individuals with criminal backgrounds who worked offshore on rigs and commercial fishing vessels. Other clients included local residents who worked in seafood processing plants, hospitality and food service, and tourists cited for DUI and other charges while visiting the area. All of these industries and businesses sustained a devastating economic impact by the BP oil spill, and drastically reduced his clients' ability to pay for legal services, resulting in greatly diminished profits and layoffs of one attorney and one secretary."

Davis sued BP, Transocean, Halliburton, Triton Asset Leasing, Sperry Drilling Services, Weatherford U.S. LLP, Cameron International Corporation, MI Swaco, Anadarko, MOEX and Mitsui Oil Exploration Company, and affiliates - but not the Gulf Coast Claims Facility.

He claims that the defendants "either conspired to create this oil spill and subsequent clean-up of the Gulf of Mexico, or were negligent or grossly negligent relating to same or are responsible under the doctrine of 'respondent superior.'"

Davis did not return phone calls seeking comment. He filed the complaint pro se.

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Independent audit on tap for BP claims process

New Orleans -- Local fisherman say they have yet to receive all of their claim money from BP, more than a year after the oil spill.  So the U.S. Department of Justice has asked an independent auditor to review the claims process to make sure fisherman are getting their fair share.

Paul Trosclair has been fishing for as long as he can remember.  He is one of thousands of fishermen who filed claims with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility over lost wages after the 2010 oil spill.  The fund, set up by BP, is administered by Ken Feinberg.  Trosclair says, “I think I should've gotten more, ya know, but I didn’t.”

About 12,000 Louisiana fishermen have received payments from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility.  The average total payout is about $29,000.  The fishermen we spoke with say that sort of amount is way too low.

Because of such complaints, Attorney General Eric Holder asked Feinberg to hire an independent auditor to review the claims process.  Feinberg agreed, and he told FOX 8 that he fully supports the hire. 

“I think at some point the public and the claimant should have a comfort level that the process has worked.  It’s been fair, it’s been consistent, it’s been done without a bias,” Feinberg said.

Local fishermen say the news comes as a pleasant surprise.  “I think it's a good idea, I really do,” fisherman Emile Serigne said. 

Darrell Caruso added, “Well I think somebody should do something other than what’s been done already.  Put a little heat under them or something, make them do what’s right.”

The men say they haven’t seen money from BP in about a year, although they say they’ve filled out the proper paperwork.  So they can’t understand why they’re not getting checks.

“It’s like a stall tactic or something, they're just not paying anybody, they just keep making excuses and not putting out the money,” Caruso said.

But Feinberg says his people are working as quickly as possible.  “We've paid thousands and thousands of fishermen and there may be some that are still in the system, but we'll clear them out as fast as we can,” Feinberg said.

Trosclair says he sees the hiring of an independent auditor as a step in the right direction because he doesn’t think fishermen will fully recover from the oil spill for some time, and will rely on the money from the GCCF and Feinberg, for years to come.

Feinberg says BP will be paying for the independent auditor. The position hasn’t yet been filled.

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Halliburton says BP hid information about failed oil well in new suit

Halliburton Energy Services Inc. filed an amended lawsuit against BP, claiming the oil company hid critical information about the failed Macondo well that led to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oilrig explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In a motion to file a second amended cross-claim against BP, Halliburton claims that BP "failed to disclose ... critical data and empirical information relating to actual conditions for the Macondo Well."

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

The New Orleans-based federal court is the venue for the massive multi-district litigation over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier is presiding over the MDL.

The 37-page cross claim is the latest filed by fellow defendants against BP. The suit claims "BP recklessly sacrificed safety for monetary savings and gain" and then conspired in a cover up after the well explosion.

Halliburton was provided the drilling cement that BP used on the Deepwater Horizon.

"BP failed to disclose and/or negligently or grossly negligently misrepresented to [Halliburton] critical information relative to the identification of the shallowest hydrocarbon-bearing sands within the production interval of the Macondo well," the suit states.

Halliburton claims that BP is liable because the disclosure of the information about the hydrocarbons located near the well would have allowed Halliburton to adjust the drilling.

"BP carelessly ignored failed well integrity test results to move forward with procedures that put the well into an underbalanced condition that led to the blowout," the suit states.

After the blowout, BP engaged in a cover-up to avoid liability, Halliburton claims.

BP knew of the concealed hydrocarbons in the sands surrounding the Macondo well which compromised the integrity of the drilling but "selectively and self-servingly omitted reference to it" in reports.

The suit does not specify an amount of damages Halliburton is seeking.

Halliburton attorneys Donald Godwin, Bruce Bowman, Jenny Martinez, Floyd Hartley Jr., Gavin Hill, Gavin Hill, Alan York, Jerry von Sternberg and Misty Hataway-Cone filed the suit.

Federal MDL 2:10-md-2179

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Nelson stumps for BP fine law, tax reform

PANAMA CITY — Sen. Bill Nelson urged a group of local business and political leaders Wednesday to support — and lobby their U.S. House representatives to support — a proposed law that would send billions in BP fines to the Gulf states affected by the oil spill.

“There’s a lot of oil sloshing around out there, and a lot of it is down at 5,000 feet,” Nelson said, adding that BP’s money should pay for everything from economic

development, to environmental restoration and better funding for the scientists who keep track of the Gulf fishery.

With more funding, those scientists would get faster and more accurate assessments of the stock, something local fishermen have been requesting for years.

BP faces between $5 and $20 billion in fines because of the amount of oil released during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Nelson said. The eight Florida Panhandle counties already have signed up to support the Restore Act 2011, officials said.

The new law is needed because under current law the fines would go straight into the Treasury, Nelson said. However, Nelson and nine other senators from Gulf Coast states say most of the money should come to the Gulf, but only after 20 percent is used for deficit reduction.

“We don’t know what the long-term effect (of the spill) is going to be,” said Nelson, D-Fla. He added that under the new law, 5 percent of the money would fund stock assessments. 

Nelson was the guest speaker at a lunch meeting at the Bay County Chamber of Commerce. Bay County Manager Ed Smith, former Panama City mayors Gerry and Scott Clemons and several local business leaders were in attendance.

Nelson also spoke about the future of Tyndall Air Force Base, drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. budget.  Tyndall is one of the main reasons why there is already a federal law that prevents drilling in the Gulf and why there never should be drilling there, Nelson said.

The Gulf “is the largest testing and training area for the United States military in the world,” Nelson said. Also, “they don’t have to fly a long way and spend a lot of fuel to get to the training area.”

Nelson added he was optimistic about the future of the budget. A supercommittee of Democrats and Republicans is scheduled to meet on the budget around Thanksgiving and present a bill to Congress for an up or down vote by Christmas. If they don’t come up with a solution for the deficit, there will be automatic and severe cuts to spending on domestic programs and national defense.

This unique situation gives Congress the opportunity to enact “serious tax reform,” Nelson said. Because of loopholes in the tax code, “there is now more money going out than is coming in.”

If Congress eliminated those loopholes, it would bring in $14 trillion over the next 10 years, Nelson said.

“The question is, ‘is there the will?’ ” he asked, predicting that Congress would get “pecked to death by every special interest.”

With the loopholes gone, taxes could be lowered for everyone, which would “crank up the engine of growth.”

“This is an opportunity we should not miss,” he said.

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Claims can still be presented against BP, Barbier rules

NEW ORLEANS - Private parties suing over losses from the Deepwater Horizon explosion can continue litigating even if they haven't presented claims to BP as the Oil Pollution Act requires, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier decided on Aug. 26. He wrote that a master complaint for claims he classifies as B1 sufficiently alleged

presentment, "at least with respect to some of the claimants." He wrote that large numbers of claimants likely bypassed the requirement, others tried to present claims but didn't comply with the Act, and others presented claims that have been denied. "In the ordinary case, the court would simply dismiss those claims without prejudice," he wrote. "However, as the court has previously noted, this is no ordinary case," he wrote. He wrote that it would be impractical, time consuming, and disruptive for parties to sort through more than 100,000 claims and determine which ones to dismiss. "Moreover, such a diversion at this time would be unproductive and would not advance towards the goal of allowing the parties and the court to be ready for the limitation and liability trial scheduled to commence in February 2012," he wrote. "No matter how many of the individual B1 claims might be dismissed without prejudice, the trial scheduled for February would still go forward with essentially the same evidence," he wrote. He wrote that he didn't decide what constitutes presentment. He wrote that the Act requires a claimant to present a claim for a sum certain to the responsible party. "How this requirement can be applied in the context of the BP oil spill is unclear," he wrote. "The long term effects on the environment and fisheries may not be known for many years," he wrote. He delivered a 39 page order resolving a variety of motions tied into the B1 bundle. He ruled that claimants can sue defendants other than the responsible party, BP, under the Act or general maritime law. He wrote that when Congress passed the Act, it didn't intend to occupy the entire field governing liability for oil spills. He wrote that the Act doesn't address the liability of defendants other than the responsible party. He wrote that it displaced maritime causes of action against the responsible party. He wrote that it doesn't indicate that Congress intended to immunize other parties from direct liability. He ruled that plaintiffs can seek punitive damages under maritime law. Having handed victories to a plaintiff steering committee, he handed them some defeats. He dismissed all maritime negligence suits against Anadarko Petroleum and MOEX, minority investors in the rig operation. He wrote that under a joint operating agreement, BP was solely responsible for drilling operations. He wrote that any information Anadarko and MOEX may have had didn't give rise to a duty to intercede in the operation. He denied the committee's request for a declaration that settlements releasing punitive damages without judicial review are contrary to law and public policy. He denied their request for a declaration that BP and its Gulf Coast Claims Facility aren't obligated to obtain releases or assignments of claims against other parties. "Plaintiffs do not identify any cause of action entitling them to declaratory relief," he wrote. He wrote that "nothing prohibits defendants from settling claims for economic loss." He wrote that speedy recovery was a goal of the Act. Finally, he denied the committee's plea for attorney's fees under maritime law. "Pursuant to the 'American Rule' in the United States, the prevailing litigant is ordinarily not entitled to collect attorneys' fees from the losing party," he wrote. "Generally, litigants must pay their own attorneys' fees absent statute or enforceable contract. "Plaintiffs allege a claim for attorneys' fees under the so called bad faith exception to the American rule. "Plaintiffs misread the bad faith exception, which is designed to cover situations in which the defendants have acted in bad faith, vexatiously, wantonly, or for oppressive reasons." He wrote that the focus of the inquiry is not the actions that precipitated a suit but the manner in which the litigation itself is carried out.

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Naples BP claims office closing down

COLLIER COUNTY –

The Naples BP claims ffice is closing its doors for good. The Collier County location is being consolidated with the Clearwater office. We found out what it means for people who still need to file.

Darlene Byrne shows up with her file in hand Wednesday afternoon.

She had pay stubs and W2s showing how the Gulf oil spill cost her money, as well as her job.

"The place that I worked at closed. We lost a lot of business and just couldn't make the rent," she said.

Still unemployed, she's made four trips to the Naples Gulf Coast Claims Facility, which is tucked in the corner of a shopping center on East Trail.

"The people here were just tremendous in helping you to find out what paperwork you had to have, making sure you have everything," Byrne said.

But starting Thursday, that resource won't be there for people looking to file.

About a quarter of the Gulf Coast Claims offices are closing. The Naples office is one of seven shutting its doors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

A sign posted on the office doors states the staff that helped Jeffrey Wagner file a claim Wednesday will be reassigned.

"When they leave, I heard that the closest office will be in Clearwater," he said.

The notice states that the consolidation is an effort to put the most experienced claim handlers in the busiest offices and to make the process more efficient.

But even with help, it doesn't happen overnight.

Byrne said the process took her about eight months.

And she said that finally on Wednesday, "I filed all my claims and I just got my final payment."

But for future claimants, talking to someone in person will mean a road trip, or filing online.

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Feinberg wants AG Jim Hood's lawsuit in federal court

The administrator of BP's $20 billion oil spill fund wants a federal court to preside over a lawsuit, instead of the state court where the suit was filed.

Attorney General Jim Hood has said Washington lawyer Kenneth Feinberg isn't properly handling the fund for oil spill victims. Hood filed a lawsuit in Hinds County Chancery Court in July to get access to claims filed by coastal residents. Hood says he wants to make the claims process more transparent.

Feinberg moved last week to have the case sent to federal court. Feinberg argues, among other things, that federal court has jurisdiction because the spill originated on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Hood has said he expected Feinberg to try to move the case.

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BP attorney criticizes plaintiff attorneys' questioning

BP attorney Andrew Langan called plaintiff attorney questions have been "repetitive, irrelevant, and sometimes harassing" during depositions of BP witnesses.

Langan expressed his concerns in a letter to Magistrate Judge Sally Shushan, who is helping coordinate depositions in the massive multidistrict litigation (MDL) surrounding the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The letter objects to a Plaintiff's Steering Committee (PSC) request for two-day

depositions of four BP employees.

Despite the objections, BP agreed to two-day depositions for three of the four BP employees.

BP objects to the two-day deposition of employee Jay Thorseth who "had very few responsibilities related to" oil spill cleanup and adding a second day of depositions "will result in scheduling havoc and staffing issues for many parties."

Langan's comments run in contrast to recent statements by U.S. District Judge Barbier at the most recent BP MDL status conference.

Barbier remarked on July 8 that plaintiff and defense attorneys' "cooperation and civility and professionalism...exceeded my expectations."

Federal MDL 2:10-md-2179

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BP Oil Spill Trials To Begin Next Year In Three Phases

The trial over last year’s BP oil spill, set for next year in New Orleans, will be split into three phases.

More than 100,000 plaintiffs are part of the case, which consolidates more than 500 lawsuits over the blowout of the Macondo well, the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig and the ensuing 86-day Gulf of Mexico oil spill — the worst in the nation’s history.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said late last week that he’ll issue a formal trial plan later, but that an initial phase dealing with the actual explosion and sinking of the drilling platform, will begin on February 27, 2012. A second phase is expected to deal with the oil discharge itself, and a third phase would deal with the effort to clean it up.

By The News Service of Florida

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Volusia, Flagler claimants receive BP settlement money for oil spill

DAYTONA BEACH -- Although the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year never reached the east coast of Florida, some residents and businesses here still felt its sting.

Area seafood restaurants saw their costs skyrocket right away, and the Volusia County School Board joined others in a lawsuit against BP in April because decreased revenue from tourism affected funding for schools.

To date, 66 residents of Volusia County have received a total of $2.31 million from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, the group in charge of doling out BP's settlement money. In Flagler County, seven residents received $28,300.

But the question is -- who are they, and why were their claims approved?

No one here seems to know, except the claims facility and the claimants who received the money -- not the Florida Attorney General, not local officials, not area state representatives. In fact, until the U.S. Department of Justice and the claims facility agreed to an independent audit in July, there was only limited federal oversight of the process.

Capt. Paul Nelson, who runs a charter fishing business in Ponce Inlet, said he lost business last year after the oil spill because he had customers cancel, thinking the oil spill had spread to Florida's east coast.

So Nelson filed a claim with the claims facility. His claim was rejected.

"I basically was told, 'You didn't fish in the Gulf so you're not getting any money.' They didn't care if I lost business because of it," Nelson said, adding that none of the fishermen he knew from Volusia County had received claim money, either.

Cheryl Russell, director of operations for the Oyster Pub in Daytona Beach, said the beachside restaurant also suffered losses last year because of the difficulty and expense of getting seafood from the Gulf. The business submitted a claim to the claims facility, but got a rejection letter about a month ago. She said she didn't know the actual dollar number of her restaurant's claim, but added, "It was up there."

The claims facility has offered some information in the form of a status report, but the report offers no clues to the nature of the claims for damages suffered "in-county" by the Volusia County parties who received settlement money from BP, nor did the report shed any light on who the claimants are.

The statewide report offers only a few specifics: 58 percent of claims were paid to the food, beverage and lodging industries. Retail, sales and service received 25 percent of the claim payments. Tourism and recreation-related businesses received 2.4 percent.

When contacted by The News-Journal, Amy Weiss, a spokeswoman for the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, said she could not share any claimant information because of confidentiality issues.

Weiss did, however, explain the different types of claimants -- a "resident of county," meaning the claimant lived in Volusia but may have done business elsewhere; "resident and loss in county," meaning the claimant lived in Volusia and that the financial loss was from business activity within the county; and "claim loss in county," meaning the financial loss was just from business activity in the county. For Volusia County, in-county loss accounted for about half of the $2.31 million.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has expressed her concerns regarding the claims facility's process for deciding who should receive settlement payments from BP, writing a letter dated Aug. 3 to the U.S. Attorney General. In that letter, Bondi encouraged the Department of Justice to perform an audit of the claims facility before its tentative deadline at the end of the year.

"(Claims facility administrator Ken Feinberg), despite the repeated attempts of the Gulf Coast Attorneys General, has operated the claims process for a year without any oversight," Bondi wrote. "This problem needs to be rectified at the earliest available opportunity."

Other local leaders said they also were in the dark about the oil spill claims.

Volusia County spokesman Dave Byron said he had heard nothing about the claims. Bob Davis, president and CEO of the Hotel and Lodging Association of Volusia County, said he encouraged area hotels last year to file claims for losses if they had room booking cancellations because of the oil spill, but said he knew of none that had. Frank Petosa, an attorney with Orlando law firm Morgan & Morgan, which represents some of the claimants seeking settlement payments from BP including the Volusia County School Board, declined to comment for this report, although School Board attorney Ted Doran said he knew nothing about any local claims.

State Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, who served on the House's economic affairs committee earlier this year, brought Feinberg in to answer questions about the claims process and why some claims were delayed. She said she still has concerns about the transparency of the process.

"While people may be concerned obviously about their personal information being disclosed, I think we need to know that our residents, whether here or in another county, are their claims being processed and are they being paid," she said. "That's a very simple answer. It's either yes or no."

[bpoilspill-blog]

Oil from BP spill still in evidence on Mississippi islands

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. — Dark-amber mats of oil as big as a large man's foot sit on the sand 10 feet from the water, and farther inland along the beaches of Horn Island's west end.

In the heat, they break apart like firm cookie dough — and smell like the floor of a mechanic shop.

Along the north shore Tuesday, a 100-yard stretch of upland beach was littered with a zigzag line of the flat, greasy pads of gritty oil, the size of a cell phone and smaller.

Some litter the sand in areas where shore birds were nesting.

Horn Island ranger Ben Moore said he sprints past fields of smaller tar balls in the upland sand when he takes his morning runs.

Two fly fishermen reported a chunky piece of black goo a foot in diameter in the surf last week on the south side of the island.

And recreational boater Nick Mason pointed out a swarm of quarter-sized tar globs floating around his boat anchored on the north side of the island Tuesday.

BP knows. Spokesman Ray Melick said the company is gearing up to return to Horn Island with sand-cleaning crews as soon as the National Park Service issues clearance.

But he said the company hasn't settled on a way to deal with oil residue in the water.

So far the oil giant hasn't tackled the floating globs, the film of discoloration on boat hulls and people's legs from playing in the surf and sand and the thick, asphalt-like mats on the sea bottom near the islands.

Melick said BP has crews out looking and recording locations and suggests people report any oil they see.

BP is using a tractor with an arm to reach into the surf in Alabama and Florida. It scoops up the asphalt material created by weathered oil settling to the bottom. Those same mats exist off the Mississippi barrier islands.

Horn Island has been the hardest hit since the BP spill began coming ashore in summer 2010. Crews removed 318 tons from the 14-mile-long island in October alone.

Altogether, the barrier islands stopped 1,732 tons of oil -- gooey, dry, hard, soft and sandy.

Then cleanup stopped on most of the islands.

The National Park Service, which manages Horn and the others that make up the Gulf Islands National Seashore, said shore birds needed to nest in peace after last year's upheaval with the BP spill and cleanup.

Then, eight sea turtle nests were discovered, adding to the need to leave the islands alone for a while longer, said Park Service Superintendent Dan Brown.

Melick said BP doesn't expect to be back at work until late August or early September.

The only significant cleaning done since March was half of Cat Island, where crews collected 22 tons over four months, Melick said. During those same months, there have been no crews on Horn, Petit Bois and most of both Ship islands.

And oil mats have continued to wash in or be uncovered on those islands.

BP is setting up to launch 20 to 30 boats for its Pascagoula site carrying 200 to 400 crews for the islands as soon as state and federal officials give the go-ahead.

In the meantime, two fishermen in the surf off the southeast side of Deer Island found a field of rock-hard, weathered, oil-like asphalt on the bottom, about 20 feet from shore.

Deer is not part of the federal park and is much closer to the mainland.

They were in less than 2 feet of water and felt the golf ball-sized pieces.

"It was loaded with them," said Kenny Evans, one of the fishermen. "You could pick dozens of them up at one time. They were everywhere."

Melick said that was particularly disconcerting, because state and federal agencies have already signed off on Deer Island as being cleaned.

He said recent dredging might have brought the pieces to the surface. He said he considers it reported and will send a team.

Tar balls were also reported on the mainland, found Tuesday on the beach and in the water south of Cowan Road in Gulfport.

BP is continuing to respond and pick up oil, Melick said.

The BP goal is to hit the islands as soon as it has clearance, clean them in 60 to 90 days and be done with what it calls response to the oil spill.

Once the state and federal agencies sign off on that final cleanup, then BP and the Coast Guard go into a monitoring and maintenance phase. When oil is reported, it will be tested to see if it's what they call 252, for the section of Gulf where the Deepwater Horizon well blew in April 2010.

Over the next three years, like the response to the asphalt off Deer Island, BP and the Coast Guard will log reports of oil and BP will clean it if it's Deepwater Horizon crude.

"After a hurricane, if a wad of stuff shows up and it's 252, BP will be responsible for it," Melick said. "In the future, that's how hurricane response will be handled."

How about 10 years from now?

"I don't know if I want to stick my neck out and say 10 years," Melick said.

[bpoilspill-blog]

Oil-impacted counties looking at $10 million in development funds

The Florida counties impacted directly by the BP oil spill will be in line for $10 million a year for the next three years in extra economic development funds, but that could just be the beginning.

That was the message this morning from Rick Harper, director of the University of West Florida's Office Economic Development and Engagement, who spoke to the Santa Rosa County Commission about the state's Oil Spill Economic Recovery Act. That office is negotiating a contract with the state to administer the act.

The funding is expected to be available beginning Oct 1.

That act set aside the $10 million a year for economic development incentives in the eight counties between Escambia and Wakulla, Harper said.That money is intended to be a "closing fund," meaning it will be used as a final incentive to seal the deal with industries that are considering locating within the eight counties.

"The legislation specifies that this money is to be used to develop and implement an innovative economic development plan (for these counties) that emphasizes research and development, commercialization, economic diversification and job creation," Harper told commissioners. "The legislative intent is that this funding be used for a relatively small number of relative large projects."

He said incentives could range from $10,000 per job created to as much as $30,000 per job created.

While the $10 million a year comes from Florida general fund revenues, Harper said the legislation puts the impacted counties in line for the lion's share of the expected fine to be paid by BP for the spill.

"The bill specified that 75 percent of BP fines to be paid in the future be allocated to the disproportionately affected counties," Harper said. "That's potentially enormous ... (Depending on the ultimate fine) that's $750 million that could be allocated to Northwest Florida."