E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Ken Feinberg, the so-called $20 billion Gulf oil spill escrow fund pay czar, testified before the House Small Business Committee, reassuring members that he is committed to paying out legitimate claims as quickly and as transparently as possible.
He urged anyone who felt they had a claim to "get the ball" rolling, and that they would not have to give up any rights.
"If you are seeking emergency financial assistance," he said, "only later would you have to decide to take a lump sum at some later date, and then you would have to decide not to sue."
He cautioned though, not everyone is eligible. Claimants will have to be able to prove their claim.
"Show me something to justify a prompt emergency payment," he urged.
Feinberg didn't yet have answers on who may be eligible regarding empty beach-front businesses, or property owners who did not have tar balls or oil damage.
"That is a tough question," he said. "If there is no physical damages, I venture to say it is not payable."
But, he added, that is something he would take a look at.
One member said she had heard that "Mom and Pop" operations were having a hard time navigating the system, and that many didn't even know where to begin.
"My goal is to make it transparent and efficient," Feinberg said, "one that mom-and-pop businesses can use."
Leave a Comment:
"Ken Feinberg, the so-called $20 billion Gulf oil spill escrow fund pay czar" - First Read
"So called"?
What's up with that . . . is even that basic fact a point of dispute now?
lol
Maybe Mark or Domenico or someone can explain the "so called" comment for us?
There shouldn't be any misunderstanding. "So-called" isn't intended to be snarky or sarcastic. It is sometimes used in those ways -- particularly in blog comments (ha) -- but that's not our intent with it. Our is sincere. He IS so called the pay czar. As I am so called a political reporter -- though some here and elsewhere may want to attach snark to my title, and rather I be a so-called (snark) political reporter.
Thanks for taking the time Domenico . . . just read a little strange! :o)
Tough crowd here today Domenico ;0)
Nashville, my exact same thought when I read that hyped headline, WTF is up with that?
Is GE editing the First Read copy now?
Looks like Debra Pettit wrote the article, so I'll give Mark and Domenico a pass. Anyway, the "so called" spill escrow fund pay czar has one very hard job. It will be hard sorting out the fraud from the legitimate claims. Loss of business claims will be hard to estimate.
I don't think 20 billion will come close to covering the financial loss for the Gulf Coast.
It is like insurance. You pay into it and hope you don't need it. If, in this kind of situation, there is a problem, the money is there to pay for it. Businesses like banks or oil companies have some sort of insurance now but more, especially for oil companies, will be necessary.
Domineco, it is poorly stated and leads to misunderstanding. It should have been written:
Ken Fienberg, the so called pay czar for the $20 billion Gulf oil spill escrow fund... There is a difference in meaning.
Well,the one thing I took from this article was his inability to answer the question of eligibility in areas where there was no damage, but businesses are suffering because of the belief that there was,or might be.
When I was in Key West earlier this month, BP had just set up its second office in the keys, and had taken to the air waves to instruct business owners what documentation to bring to the offices in order to be compensated Charter boat captains, hotel and restaurant owners-even though there has been, (thank goodness), no oil in the keys, were all suffering cancellations because people erroneously believed that the oil had saturated the entire gulf.
Sounds like now that the government is in charge of the fund, that has changed.
Could it be called "so-called" because Obama had no legal authority to mandate the fund? Funny, seems like I read somewhere BP missed the first (voluntary, or legally bound?) installment yesterday. I don't know.
There was one thing that Obama did/does have the legal authority to do, something he doesn't have to defer to BP - manage the containment and clean up. Under the Oil Protection Act of 1990, Section 4201, Obama has the authority to monitor BP, direct BP, or remove BP.
As of June 30, 2010, 70+ days into the disaster, Unified Command states that 6,850 active response vessels (510 skimmers which most are not much more than modified fishing boats, small supply boats and barges) have recovered nearly 28.17 million gallons (less than 1 million barrels) of oily water.
Three Panamex skimmer/tankers do more than that in 1 day.
Preposterous! No, it is true, but there is a problem.
The 3 Panamex tankers process 1,419,000 barrels of oily water a day removing 432,000 barrels of oil. And that is the problem. The Panamex tankers do not recover the oily water - they process it. Although they remove more oil in 1 day than the Unified Command has collected in 70, the 987,000 barrels they release in the process does not meet EPA approval - hence they are polluting. (So let's the 432,000 barrels float in and the pelicans and guys in HAZMAT suits working 20 minutes out of the hour (per OSHA) collect it.) Makes sense.
Shell offers the 300 foot Nanuq and it still sits in Seward Alaska. The French Foreign Minister offers a fleet of Ecoceane skimmers after the disaster, finally out of frustration, 9 boats are sold to a Florida contractor to get around the Jones Act and all the other red tape. The contractor gets to deal with the red tape now. The A Whale, the largest super skimmer ever built (10 stories high), sits in Virginia dealing with red tape. The Dutch have given up on their offers to help and are now selling skimming equipment to be installed on American vessels. More than 22 countries have... nevermind. But Unified Command has 122 aircraft!
Over 850 skimmers in Southeasten U.S. and another 1,600 around the continental U.S sit. Seems the government requires minimum levels per region for the possibility of a little spill.
Blame it on BP, you know the company that lied to Obama, that nothing they have done has been the way they said it would be, the company with 760 safety violations the last 5 years. The company that Obama actually had the legal authority to remove and has not removed.
Unified Command cites more than 42,000 responding personnel.
If one person in particular, had responded as a leader, removed BP and actually involved himself, the disaster would not be the disaster it is.