Just how “independent” is the Gulf Coast Claims Facility? Well, an AP story is going viral with news that only one company among thousands has received a “final payment” – and it’s for a whopping $10 million.
The large claim was negotiated and settled by BP but paid from the $20 billion compensation fund being administered by Kenneth Feinberg. The secretive payout is a symbol of both BP control and a general lack of transparency surrounding the fund, because nobody will identify who got the money – and BP didn’t bother including anyone in the process.
The AP quotes Mr. Feinberg, who seemed to be well out of the loop: “At the request of the parties, the settlement reached between BP and the other party was paid out of the GCCF fund,” Feinberg told the AP. “It was a private settlement and we paid it, but we were not privy to the settlement negotiations between BP and that party.”
With nearly 100,000 Gulf claims still unpaid, more and more folks are going to agree with Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon, who told the AP that the special treatment “reeks of favoritism.”
“It stinks,” Kennon told AP. “It’s exactly what we’ve been screaming about. There’s not an independent entity. There’s no oversight.”
See the AP report here: http://www.bayoubuzz.com/Gulf-Oil-Disaster/91-000-gulf-oil-spill-claims-just-1-final-payment.html
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maybe bp will intervene on our behalf …