Clarion Ledger ED – Attorney General Jim Hood’s skepticism justified over BP claims
Kenneth Feinberg controls British Petroleum’s $20 billion escrow fund for the benefit of oil spill victims and his appointment to that post was for the express purpose of expediting payments and avoiding needless protracted litigation.
But in administering claims, Feinberg both assets the power to pick and choose among claims while at the same time talking about executing “blanket waivers” for those who settle with the fund not only from BP but for Transocean and other companies connected to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig as well.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood along with Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and Alabama Attorney General Troy King have expressed concern about Feinberg’s protocols for interim or emergency claims as well as for the blanket waivers.
Hood is right to be skeptical and to interpose his office as a watchdog over the settlement process.
Clarion Ledger
9/1/10
Magnolia Tribune
