BP Pays a Crony - News by Anthony Ricigliano

Anthony Ricigliano - Latest News: BP's much publicized compensation fund for Gulf oil spill victims has received over 91,000 requests for final damage settlement payments from people and businesses across the Gulf but has only issued one. Give them credit, it was for a hefty sum of $10 million dollars but it comes with one caveat; the recipient is an existing BP business partner that was paid only after BP intervened on their behalf.

BP has not divulged the name of the recipient due to disclosure issues. BP has admitted that it went to bat for their partner to make it the first one to be paid from the $20 billion compensation fund, known as “The Gulf Coast Claims Facility”.  The amount paid to BP’s partner company dwarfs the stopgap payments which have been parceled out while people wait for final settlements.

Another galling aspect of the $10 million payment is that final payments to the remaining 91,000 claimants won’t begin until February at the earliest, according to the administrator of the facility. The fund's administrator is Washington lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, whose firm is being paid $850,000 per month to run the facility. To no one’s surprise Feinberg’s firm has come under intense criticism as well by lawmakers, plaintiffs’ attorneys and claimants who have repeatedly complained that Feinberg’s the facility has no transparency, is running at the behest of BP, has shortchanged claims, and is dragging its feet on payments. You can’t blame Feinberg for this; he is currently negotiating with BP to revamp the pay structure and extend the administration of the facility through August 2013.

While a BP spokesperson claimed that the funding facility "reviewed our positions and made an independent decision regarding the outcome of the claim," Feinberg was independent enough to say on Monday that the facility was never requested to review the claim that BP lobbied for. Feinberg stated that BP struck an outside deal with the business and told the fund to make the payment.

Feinberg told AP that, "At the request of the parties, the settlement reached between BP and the other party was paid out of the GCCF fund. It was a private settlement and we paid it, but we were not privy to the settlement negotiations between BP and that party.”

There is also an appeals process which runs through the U.S. Coast Guard for disgruntled claimants, but that agency isn’t doing claimants any favors either. Of 264 appeals that have been processed, the finding in every one of them was that the facility acted correctly in either denying claims or paying small fraction of what was requested.

It appears that residents and businesses that incurred damages from BP’s blowout are still being held in complete disregard by the people with the money. It’s still rough, unless of course you’re a crony of BP.
Author Anthony Ricigliano

Anthony Ricigliano - A Movement Based on a Number - Anthony Ricigliano Blog

Anthony Ricigliano - News by Anthony J Ricigliano: The challenges facing the citizens that want to take action on global warming are many. First and foremost, there’s the fossil fuel industry, which is the single most profitable enterprise in human history. Challenges dovetail off from the industry due to its money to advance their political agenda and the fact that oil and coal are relatively cheap sources of energy. By the way, part of the reason oil is so cheap is that Big Oil and Big Coal get to dump their byproducts into the atmosphere free of charge.

One of the other challenges is defining what exactly global warming is. The lack of that definition has made the presentation of a convincing global warming argument a complicated issue. Granted, we can easily see that extreme events are occurring on a more frequent basis but defining why is a little fuzzier. Saying that greenhouse gases are to blame may be correct but without a data point the debate can be run all over the board, done as much to confuse the issue as anything else. It’s kind of like saying speeding is dangerous without actually having a speed limit on which to base the conversation.  

This confusion has allowed the agendas of politicians and big oil to be pushed forward even while extreme weather events occur seemingly on a weekly basis. Politically, it now appears that President Obama is now making any concession possible to get re-elected. This includes concessions on the regulation of carbon emissions as monitored by the EPA. The administration is now backing away from proposed regulations to avoid being seen as anti-business and anti-jobs as framed by the Republican Party.

The good news is that a data point has been determined on which we can now define what level of carbon emissions is too high, much like adding a speed limit to a conversation about the dangers of excessive speed. The data point was determined by the planet's foremost climatologist, James Hansen, who found that any carbon value higher than 350 parts per million in the atmosphere was "not compatible with the planet on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted."

That number serves to give global warming a black and white reference point to start working on. The problem is that carbon levels in the atmosphere now measure 390 parts per million, about 11% higher than the level we need to maintain life as we know it. This number has fostered a movement known as 350.org which is now mobilizing people that are interested in saving the planet from global warming.
This mobilization includes the coordination of almost 15,000 global warming demonstrations in 188 countries. Foreign Policy magazine called the demonstrations “the largest ever coordinated global rally" about any issue, ever. If you’re concerned about global warming, 350.org is definitely a great place to start.

Anthony Ricigliano

Will BP’s Seal Stick? - News By Anthony Ricigliano

News by Anthony Ricigliano: After having held gushing oil in place since the middle of July, crews from BP are carefully drilling a secondary relief well which, when completed, will deliver a permanent plug into the oil well that has become the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. The drilling of the last phase of the relief well must be done with extreme caution to ensure that it intersects the broken well line. It is hoped that the relief well can reinforce the initial cap and provide a permanent solution by pumping more mud and cement into the well.

With the oil stopped since July 15th, all eyes will be on the "bottom kill" operation which is designed to both permanently seal the well and allow for options on reopening it in the future. Prior to the temporary seal going in, oil flowed out of the broken well for almost three months after Deepwater Horizon rig, which BP had leased, exploded on April 20. The explosion killed 11 employees on the platform and released over 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf. Investigations are ongoing as whether BP cut corners in their operations in order to save money in the days preceding the blowout.

The first test after the connection of the relief well will be to see if pressure gradually builds up at the point of the seal. The lines which have been releasing oil and gas to surface ships to minimize pressure on the cap would be closed to see if pressure builds naturally within the well.  Increasing pressure would indicate that the two and a half miles of casing which lines the well bore is intact which could lead to an oil capture scheme with surface ships capturing oil from the well. Estimates are that four ships could capture up to 60,000 barrels a day. If pressure does not build in the well it would indicate that the casing is damaged and testing would be halted. The relief lines which have been shut would reopen and testing of the casing would commence.

The operation to finally seal the well should provide relief to the cleanup efforts, but for many the damage has already been done. With the Fall shrimping season set to open on August 16th, many of the fishing grounds will remain closed as federal authorities monitor toxin levels in shrimp, crabs, and other seafood. The reminder of these closures was evident as the pre-season “Blessing of the Boats” ceremonies saw barbequed sausage, chicken, and other items on the menu but no sign of the shrimp and crab dishes that are the traditional fare for the celebrations.
 
There hasn’t been much talk about future plans for the well but it seems unlikely that it will remain closed permanently. While establishing another rig may be extremely unpopular with residents around the Gulf, the sheer volume of oil in the well and BP’s desire to recoup some of the $6.1 billion in costs related to the blowout make it likely that surface ships will eventually be replaced by another platform along the lines of Deepwater Horizon. One certainty in that situation is that it will be closely watched with highest safety standards possible. BP owes nothing less than that to everyone and everything that has been affected by this ecological disaster.
Author Anthony Ricigliano