Oil spill losses still not paid

LadyShea · #1 09-05-2011, 06:39 PM

The exchange at the end of this post took place in June of last year in the "....blame Texas" thread.

Just last night we got an email from our school district Superintendent discussing this issue
Rundown:

1. School district pursued it's own claim against BP and received an offer of 2.4 million (flat, no legal fee deductions)

2. State offered school district 2.5 million for catastrophe relief from the education trust fund (not unheard of here), BUT funds must be paid back IF money is accepted from BP in the FY 2012. This means they either have to accept the BP settlement by 9/31 or wait until 2013 if they want the combined 4.9 million

3. County commission is in litigation with BP and trying to collect 11.9 million, 9.9 of it going to the schools (less legal fees). If the school district accepts the 2.4 million, the county has to start over.

4. The county claims that as the tax revenue collector, only they have standing and the school district has/had no legal basis on which to pursue it's own claim. They are now fighting their own school board.

My question is this: where the hell is the government (state of Feds!) facilitator in all this (I thought there was a trust fund or some shit to prevent all this litigation!)? Why are municipalities and government agencies dealing directly with BP and why are there all these legal issues?

BP vowed to make it right, The Fed govt vowed to make it right, why the hell is a little county- that was directly and demonstrably effected- having to squabble amongst themselves over a few million dollars over a year later?

Clusterfuck. Total clusterfuck and we the people are suffering for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lagnath

I'm not going to defend Joe Barton, or any other representative from my state. But this whole "oil cleanup account" is a big PR piece of crap.

BP has a metric crap load of money. They do about 4.5-6 billion in profit per quarter. They have something like 600 billion in total assets and had 30 billion in cash and liquid assets on hand. There is absolutely no point to this whole 'cleanup fund'. The money would get extracted from them regardless without this whole piece of crap.

Going after them to form this account is just politics, as is calling it a shakedown. It's just politicians trying to look useful in the face of a crisis that can't be immediately controlled.

Nothing useful is going to happen until they get relief wells drilled, and by that time I expect this thing will have oiled up most of our coastal regions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LadyShea

Quote:

There is absolutely no point to this whole 'cleanup fund'. The money would get extracted from them regardless without this whole piece of crap.

Lagnath, how well did that work with the Valdez spill?

In my opinion, that money needs to be in escrow and adminned by a third party to prevent BP crying poor, failing to pay claims, failing to pay claims timely, suddenly changing gears and deciding that the previous liability caps should be enforced, or forcing every claim to go to litigation (all real possibilities).

I think BP has done as good as they can, and I think they intend to pay that out as of today...but business is business and in business a promise just don't cut it.

I live in an affected coastal region, and so far it is a clusterfuck regarding clean up and claims payments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sock Puppet

Yeah, I was going to say, one of the benefits of a relief fund is that the affected people might actually see the money in time for it to address their problems, rather than at the ass-end of a protracted litigation after their lives have been ruined.

LadyShea · #2 09-05-2011, 07:21 PM

I found this related story from last Fall

Quote:

County, city claims remain outstanding | Fox10tv.com

The city of Orange Beach has filed a claim for $1.5 million. Next door in Gulf Shores, there’s a claim for another $755,000. Municipal claims like these are being handled by BP, not claims czar Ken Feinberg, so Kennon said pressure needs to put on the oil giant directly to pay up.

"Mr. Feinberg said he thinks these claims to should come through him as well, but BP wanted to keep it for themselves. I’m sure it’s for legal or liability reasons,” Kennon said.

The Baldwin County School System has also put in a claim of nearly $4.5 million dollars. Without that money a financially strapped system will be even more so.

“I don’t think that’s fair for kids to see teachers fired because of an oil spill,” Kennon said. “They need to make the school systems whole just like they need to make the city and everyone else.”

AynMisesLibertarian · #3 09-07-2011, 01:28 PM

WIth stronger property rights and no "public zones" a private would be allowed to sue BP for the real damage

Instead Government has nothing to gain in filling a proper lawsuit or calculate the real damage...politician are easy to bribe

Sock Puppet · #4 09-07-2011, 03:38 PM

I don't think a private could, even with stronger property rights. It would probably still require at least a corporal.

LadyShea · #5 09-07-2011, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AynMisesLibertarian

WIth stronger property rights and no "public zones" a private would be allowed to sue BP for the real damage

And who would enforce the stronger "property rights"? Who would hear/try the lawsuit?

Watser? · #6 09-07-2011, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sock Puppet

I don't think a private could, even with stronger property rights. It would probably still require at least a corporal.

Maybe not your privates, but AML's privates can!

Janet · #7 09-07-2011, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Who would hear/try the lawsuit?

According to my libertarian sister-in-law, "We'd still have courts and somehow they'd get paid for." That was the last time I let her drag me into a discussion of politics.

LadyShea · #8 09-07-2011, 06:31 PM

Somehow! And yeah, somehow they wouldn't be corruption machines, I suppose.