Many oil spill claims in limbo

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NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 26 (UPI) – The U.S. administrator for damages from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is reviewing more than 100,000 claims for indirect losses.

They include daycare workers in New Orleans who worked short weeks after parents in the seafood industry lost their jobs and stayed home with their children, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported. Deanna Gilbert, a wine distributor, lost commissions because restaurants and bars on the Gulf Coast stopped their orders as tourism ground to a halt.

British oil giant BP, owner of the well that spewed more than 200 million barrels into the gulf following an explosion in April on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, has provided a $20 billion fund for damages.

Ken Feinberg, the administrator, has said he is taking a liberal view of the Oil Pollution Act, which says losses must be “due to” a spill. There are clear-cut cases such as the fishermen unable to ply their trade and businesses in towns where the oil fouled beaches.

But Gilbert, the “Sunshine Wine Diva,” is still waiting for action on her claim. So is LaTonya Manning, one of the daycare workers.

The 100,000 claims Feinberg is reviewing are about one-quarter of the total so far.

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Stuart H. Smith is an attorney based in New Orleans fighting major oil companies and other polluters.
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