BP Gulf Coast Claims Facility

As Oil Spill Costs Climb, BP Sells Assets

admin — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:59:52 +0000

Facing growing costs and expenses involved with the April of 2010 oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, BP Oil Company has spent the last two years slowly selling off billions of dollars in what they are referring to as non-strategic assets around the world. The most recent “For Sale” sign has gone up on several properties dispersed throughout the Gulf of Mexico, the scene of the crime for BP, which has already set up a $20 billion dollar trust to cover the initial expenses of the spill, has just agreed to an approximate $8 billion dollar economic settlement with plaintiffs who had filed economic claims against them for individual and business losses, and still has an unknown number looming over them in fines and penalties owed to the federal government, the states of Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, and several other municipalities that were negatively impacted by the spill. That number will be determined over the next several months, either by the company agreeing to a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department or by virtue of a trial that is currently scheduled to take place early in 2013. Regardless of whether the case ends up being settled, it is anticipated that the price tag that the company will be required to pay will hover somewhere between $15 and $20 billion dollars more.

The BP oil spill was the worst offshore oil spill disaster to ever occur in American waters, eclipsing the famous Exxon-Valdez oil spill that took place in Alaska. The spill sent millions of gallons of crude oil into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, which had previously yielded almost half of all seafood eaten in the United States and which had long been a popular tourist destination for both Americans and for those coming from international locations. The spill devastated the ecology of the region, the economy and the overall mindset. Tourists stopped visiting and cancelled existing reservations all along the coast and the interior of the states involved, people stopped purchasing Gulf seafood, and many seafood, hospitality, retail and service-related businesses faltered or failed. There are questions about whether the use of chemical dispersants during the clean-up efforts will end up having long-term effects on the health of the waters going forward, as well as on the health of those who were exposed to it during the clean-up.

Landrieu Asks Coast Guard for Continued BP Oil Spill Assistance

admin — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:58:43 +0000

The clean-up effort that followed the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April of 2010, and the months that followed, was as unprecedented as the spill itself. With thousands of volunteers and paid employees working around the clock in the air, the water and land, the millions of gallons of crude oil that course out of the Macondo oil well from a depth of a mile below the ocean’s surface were collected via vacuum, burned off the ocean’s surface, dispersed via the use of millions of gallons of the chemical dispersant Corexit, and blocked from reaching the coast line through the use of enormous booms that lined the shore. The majority of the visible oil has been collected, and BP is advertising on television that the Gulf region is “better than ever”, that the waters and beaches are clean and that everybody should come back to visit. Although that is an upbeat message, many who live in the area believe otherwise, and United States Senator Mary Landrieu from the state of Louisiana has written a letter to the U.S. Coast Guard requesting that they continue their efforts at enforcing clean-up, asking that they return to inspections of remote areas and forcing BP Oil Company to collect uncollected oil as well as other remaining equipment that they left behind.

Landrieu’s letter was sent to Commandant Robert Papp, and in it she details the reasons for her request. Among the points she makes are the fact that while the Coast Guard may be able to rely upon community reports of oil sightings in other states and areas, that Louisiana’s coast is unique and often remote, unseen by humans and therefore there is nobody that can report the presence of oil. She also points to the fact that much of the equipment that was used in the clean-up, including anchors that held down the booms that protected the coast, remain in the water and have already been responsible for multiple boating accidents. Although Landrieu concedes that are areas that have been cleaned up well, she has also indicated that there are areas on the Louisiana coast that have actually never been inspected, and still remain heavily polluted with oil. She has asked the Coast Guard to return to Louisiana’s coast and continue their efforts, and that they ask BP Oil Company to continue their efforts as well.

Need for Long Term Medical Attention Forces Opt Out Decision

admin — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:57:20 +0000

A group of a dozen litigants who were part of the initial action against the BP Oil Company have reviewed the terms of the Deepwater Horizon Settlement Agreement and determined that they will need to opt out of the Medical Settlement Agreement and pursue their own lawsuit against BP Oil Company after the settlement agreement has been officially approved by federal judge Carl Barbier. The Deepwater Horizon Settlement Agreement was reached in March of 2012, when attorneys representing BP Oil Company and a steering committee representing the original 120,000 plaintiffs suing for economic, financial and medical damages reached an agreement that would avoid a prolonged and expensive legal battle. The settlement agreement, which received preliminary approval a few weeks after the agreement was reached and which is expected to receive final approval in the fall of 2012, establishes two separate settlements, one that addresses the various types of economic and financial damages that may have been suffered by victims of the worst offshore oil spill in American history, and the other a Medical Settlement specifically established for oil spill clean-up workers and residents who may have been exposed to either oil, the chemical dispersant Corexit, or a combination of the two in any of a number of different ways. The medical settlement agreement offers a maximum payout of $60,000 per person, and the plaintiffs who are opting out have determined that the amount is insufficient to cover their anticipated medical expenses. All claim to have suffered neurotoxic impact from exposure to the chemical dispersant, and as a result they may require ongoing medical attention for the rest of their lives. Neurotoxic symptoms can include blurred vision, impaired cognitive performance and loss of memory, obsessive compulsive behavior and delusions, and many other serious affects.

The group believes that BP Oil is responsible for many of the damages that they suffered, in large part because they are indicating that BP chose to use a slower method of capping the oil well that was leaking into the Gulf in the interest of maintaining the future usability of the well. They will attempt to prove that had BP chosen a quicker method that there would have been less exposure to oil and there would not have been such a great need for the use of chemical dispersants. They also will be suing Nalco, the manufacturer of the dispersant, as well as the two companies that sprayed the dispersant from airplanes.

BP Sued by Minnesota Equipment Firm Following Deepwater Horizon oil spill

admin — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:55:56 +0000

BP Oil Company attorneys are being kept very busy these days with lawsuits filed against them related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The oil spill took place in April of 2010, and was the worst offshore oil spill accident in American history. The spill was the result of a methane gas surge that caused an explosion on board the Deepwater Horizon oil platform that BP was leasing from Transocean, Ltd. The explosion caused a fire that sank the platform and killed eleven workers, and resulted in the eruption of the oil well at a depth of five thousand feet below the surface. The efforts to cap the well were made more challenging by both the depth of the oil well and the amount of oil that was surging out of it on a constant basis. The quantity of oil also meant that a Herculean effort was required in cleaning it up. BP enlisted contractors and experts from around the world. Volunteers rushed to the area to try to rescue animals and clean tar and oil off of the beaches, and equipment was brought in from everywhere, including local boats and equipment from around the world in order to spray and apply chemical dispersants, lay down and anchor booms, burn oil from the water’s surface and vacuum and skim the oil. Two years later, as lawsuits are being filed by everybody that was damaged by the oil spill itself, word comes that BP was irresponsible with some of the equipment that it leased during the clean-up process, and they are being sued for over $12 million dollars in back payments of leases for lost, misplaced and damaged equipment, as well as repair costs.

The suit is being file by Quall Tech Environmental Inc., a Minnesota-based company that leases in leasing equipment for environmental clean-up. The suit, which was filed in Minnesota federal court, indicates that months went by between the end of the equipment lease and the return of the equipment. It states that the defendant, BP Oil Company, was not able to locate the expensive equipment for quite some time, and that once it was found and returned it was discovered that pieces were missing, the equipment was damaged and in need of repair or completely destroyed. The suit states that the repairs cost the company over $350,000.

Corexit Use in the BP Oil Spill May Prove Disastrous

admin — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:26:59 +0000

Researchers in Alabama have indicated that the use of the chemical dispersant Corexit during the BP oil spill clean-up may result in a catastrophic impact on the marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. Their fears come after having conducted a comprehensive study in which 53 gallon barrels of water taken from the Mobile, Alabama area were combined with samples of crude oil, the chemical dispersant, and both oil and the dispersant. The ratios that were utilized approximated those that were present in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico when the clean-up effort was at its most intense. Corexit was used for its ability to break crude oil down into tiny globules that can more easily evaporate or be eaten by microbes already present in the water. The use of the dispersant was contested at the time by environmental groups, in large part because it had never been used at the depths that were involved with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and because it was know to have toxic implications for marine life. BP Oil insisted that the Corexit was the only product that was available in the massive quantities required for the amount of oil that was escaping from the uncapped oil well. Its use was combined with burning oil on the surface, using booms to trap the oil in order to prevent it from reaching the fragile wetlands and beaches, and skimming operations.

The results of the study were published in an online journal published by the Public Library of Science by researchers from the University of South Alabama and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, both located in Alabama, which was one of the states hardest hit by the oil spill. The results showed that though microscopic organisms in the water that form one of the most basic elements of the Gulf’s food chain were able to survive and thrive in the water alone, as well as in the water that was polluted by the crude oil, but that once the chemical dispersant was added to the mix, the microorganism population died out and did not recover. If the scenario that played out in the experiment is what is actually happening in the Gulf of Mexico it could mean that the consequences of the chemical dispersants use could have serious long term implications that have not yet been seen, but will be in the next year or two. It takes a while for food chain disruptions to become obvious, as there are several different layers involved before an absence of a population becomes evident, as it did in the herring population following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. When the sea life that feeds on the organisms that died no longer has a food source their population will diminish, and the same impact will eventually be seen all the way up the food chain.

BP Oil Spill Impacts Major International Airport

admin — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:25:10 +0000

When a surge of methane gas rose from the Macondo oil well from five thousand feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, it caused an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform that was being leased from Transocean Ltd. by BP Oil Company. That explosion set off a chain of events of unimaginable proportions. The explosion tragically killed eleven oil field workers and started a fire that burned for days, and when the platform finally sunk and the smoke had cleared, it left behind a rapidly spreading oil slick that turned into the worst offshore oil spill disaster in American history. As Americans and people around the world watched in horror, oil spill clean-up workers attempted to skim oil off of the ocean’s surface, set up booms to block the oil from reaching beaches and sprayed dispersants both under the water and on the surface. Oil-soaked birds and sea turtles were seen being scooped up by volunteers who attempted to save their lives, while those in the seafood industry and other owners of boats that normally earned their living in the waters of the Gulf were recruited to assist in the clean-up efforts. Engineers and scientists toiled to cap the well, and the process took nearly three months. The devastation that the oil spill caused is still being measured.

Among the oil spill’s economic victims were those who worked in the seafood industry and those in the tourism industry. The seafood industry had previous supplied over forty percent of the United States’ seafood, but as questions were raised about the safety of the fish from the polluted waters, people stopped eating it, and since then the population has decreased dramatically. Similarly, reservations for vacations in the Gulf were cancelled as people saw photos of oil-soaked beaches, and even businesses that were not immediately or directly affected felt the pinch. Among those that can trace a dramatic drop in revenue to the BP oil spill is the Tampa International Airport, located in Tampa, Florida. The airport is one of the major gateways for tourists coming to visit the Florida Gulf coast, and following the April 20th oil spill disaster they saw a drop of over two percent in the number of visitors coming in for leisure purposes.
Because fewer visitors means far less revenue for the airport, the airport filed a claim against BP Oil Company for $1.7 million dollars. To date they have not heard anything from BP about their claim, and they have now decided to utilize the services of knowledgeable BP oil spill attorneys.

BP Oil Spill Dispersant Concerns Prompt Lawsuit

admin — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:23:24 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency has just been served with a lawsuit by an environmental law firm representing a group that wants rules and regulations established for the use of chemical dispersants in the case of future oil spills. The group includes the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Gulf Restoration Network, the Sierra Club and the Louisiana Shrimp Association among others from the Gulf, as well as several groups from Alaska whose involvement in the movement began with the Exxon Valdez accident in Prince William Sound. They are seeking the establishment of rules and guidelines in support of the Clean Water Act that will protect the waters from the use of potentially hazardous chemicals even in the face of a disaster. They were prompted to action by the unprecedented use of the chemical dispersant Corexit following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill accident in April of 2010. Immediately after the oil spill took place, the BP Oil Company petitioned to use Corexit to break up the massive oil slick that was beginning to form and which was fed by the Macondo oil well for almost three months, until the time it was finally capped. Chemical dispersants are popular answers in oil spills because they break large amounts of oil into tiny microscopic globules which can be eaten by microbes or which can evaporate more easily. But the solution and the oil often sink to the bottom of the ocean where their impact is unknown. Also unknown is the effect that the chemicals have on the people who are handling it or exposed to it, and on the environment, and on the animal life that swims through it. The group’s lawsuit is trying to compel the Environmental Protection Agency to order testing of products before they can be used to establish that they are actually safe, as well as to determine if any limits need to be placed in how they are used or in what quantity.

In the case of Corexit and the BP oil spill, almost 2 million gallons were applied, with much of it delivered at a depth of 5,000 feet below the surface where the oil was originating from. No dispersant has ever been used in such massive quantities or at such a great depth before, and the long term impact is unknown and much feared. The Deepwater Horizon Medical Settlement actually contains specific references to maladies that may arise from exposure to Corexit, and many studies are currently under way to determine its impact on the marine life in the Gulf.

Deepwater Horizon Claims Administrator Happy with Progress

admin — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:21:04 +0000

It’s not every manager who can look at how their two month old company is doing and be happy with the results, but that is the position that Patrick Juneau, the administrator of the Deepwater Horizon Claims Centers is feeling. Juneau spoke the other day at a Mobile, Alabama press conference attended by United States Representative Jo Bonner, as well as government officials from the surrounding area, and he spoke about what the last two months of his administration has yielded. The Deepwater Horizon Claims Centers were opened on the first week of June in eighteen different locations through out the Gulf of Mexico region that was impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. With offices in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana, the goal of the centers was to provide prompt and efficient service and processing to the tens of thousands of Gulf residents who suffered financial and economic losses as a result of the spill, which was the worst offshore oil spill accident in the history of the United States. The centers have been set up to meet all of the needs that claimants may have, from sending out claims forms to processing them, and in the two months since they opened and started running the operation they have received over 47,000 completed claims for settlement money. Juneau was obviously pleased to announce to the gathering that with just two months of experience under their belt, his employees had already completed 1,400 determinations. Though some of them were either denials or requests for additional documentation, the vast majority were settlement offers totaling over $62 million dollars in payouts for claims for everything from property loss value to economic damages.

Juneau and his operation have a lot of high expectations being placed on them, and also face a lot of suspicion. Their claims office follows in the footsteps and replaces the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, which was administered by Kenneth Feinberg. Although Feinberg is renowned for his success in administering the victim compensation following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the BP oil spill disaster was a completely different event that impacted a much broader number of people. Though the operation was much maligned, many of the difficulties that they encountered helped to clear the path and establish the needed guidelines for the way that the new centers would calculate eligibility and payouts.

BP Oil Spill Claims Process Going According to Plan

admin — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:18:09 +0000

Although many in the region were doubtful that the Deepwater Horizon Settlement Agreement would operate as smoothly as its administrator promised, just two months into the program the organization has already received tens of thousands of registration forms and claims forms from a variety of individuals and businesses from all over the region, and they are starting to send out settlement offers and outcome results alerting people as to the status of their claim. Unlike the Gulf Coast Claims Facility that was established shortly after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster occurred, the Deepwater Horizon Court Supervised Settlement Agreement is working under an extremely comprehensive and detailed set of guidelines that addresses all contingencies. The agreement itself was contained in a document that was over one thousand pages long, and the details that were addressed make certain that there is no question as to what steps need to be filed, what documentation is required to prove that a claim is valid, what factors need to be calculated in order to determine the amount of compensation that will be offered, or what steps need to be taken in order to receive the compensation.
The total process is encompassed by a five step program. The first step relies entirely on the person or entity that is filing the claim. They are responsible for either preparing all of the documentation and filling out the claims forms or contacting a qualified BP oil spill attorney and having them do the preparation of the claim on their behalf. Once the claim has been submitted, the second step entails an employee of the Deepwater Horizon Settlement Agreement Claims Centers reviewing the material that has been received to ensure that it is complete. If anything is missing they will notify the claimant so that the information can be completed. Once it is complete, the claim will be reviewed and calculated and a determination will be made; either the claim will be denied or the amount of compensation will be calculated. In either case notification will be sent to the claimant. Once the claimant has reviewed the outcome notification, they have the option of either accepting the terms of the settlement or filing a claim on their own, apart from the class action group. For those who accept the Claims Center’s determination, they simply need to indicate their acceptance and a check will be sent out quickly.

Oil Spill Continues to Cost BP

admin — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:17:05 +0000

Add another $847 million dollars to the enormous amount of money that BP Oil Company has had to pay since the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill accident. Back in April of 2010 the world knew that things were bad, and BP shareholders knew that they would take a huge financial hit, but they had no idea of exactly how bad things would get – and the worst part is that they still don’t know exactly how high the costs will go. So far the costs for the clean-up and the amounts that BP has had to pay out in claims paid to the owners of businesses and individuals who have suffered economic losses has come to a whopping $38 billion dollars – that amount does take into account the recently agreed to amount of $8 billion dollars to be paid to individuals and businesses with economic and financial claims as well as to those who worked on the oil spill clean-up or who by virtue of their proximity to the spill area were exposed to the oil directly, or the chemical dispersants used to attempt to clean it up. But that $38 billion does not include the amount that has yet to be determined – the amount that BP is going to have to pay to the federal government for fines and penalties for violation of the Clean Water Act of 1990. Although BP Oil has high hopes of settling that case for a lesser amount than they would be required to pay if it goes to trial, several of the states that were impacted by the spill have other plans, and are hoping to force litigation in order to drive the outcome higher.
The oil spill caused tremendous damage in a variety of areas in the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. Most immediately the cost of simply containing and cleaning up the oil itself was enormous, and required enlisting thousands of oil clean-up workers and volunteers as well as vessels used in the effort. The company is being required to make their existing oil exploration sites much safer, which is costing them additional money, and is also responsible for ongoing efforts to make sure that the environment has been restored, as well as to compensate all of the businesses in the area that lost income or had to close down entirely as a result of the spill.