BP’s $20 Billion Earmark Falls Short
BP set aside $20 billion to compensate businesses and people affected by their oil spill Think that’s enough? Think again! Try $63 billion! So why such a low earmark?
Using the cost from the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 as a comparison, Exxon ultimately paid over $287 million in compensatory damages alone. The Valdez leaked over 257,000 barrel of oil; BP spilled about 5.3 million barrels. That’s $42 billion. Adjusting for inflation, that’s $63 billion.
In my litigation experience, everything is up for negotiation. Even if BP knows that they’ve caused over $63 billion in damages, if they can negotiate a smaller settlement with individuals and Gulf Coast companies. They are probably estimating that they can save about 2/3 of the money that litigation or trial several years away could cost them. Many of the people the are compensating would rather settle now for a smaller amount than delay the valuation of their cases at mediation or trial in the distant future.
Gulf coast people and businesses certainly should be offered compensation in an amount closer to $62 billion. Why? Because Florida alone has damages in that neighborhood: Florida’s tourism is a $61 billion industry. Even if the Sunshine State’s claims are justly compensated, where is the money for the people in the other states?
Knowing that there isn’t enough money for all the injured parties, my advice is that if you have a BP claim, file your claim early. Get all your documentation together to submit a package that can be easily processed. You will only be compensated for losses you can prove, so tighten up the evidence you submit, and don’t leave any room for wiggling out of compensating you for your injuries.
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Thanks for your comment, and yes, go ahead and quote this post with a link back.
They sure haven’t laid off the talking heads on TV who keep bragging about all the great cleanup their doing and that they’ll be there till the job is done. the 100′s of aircraft looking for the oil and the 1000′s of local fishermen going out everyday to clean it up.BP= bastards of propaganda
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In June, with critics comparing the Gulf to Hurricane Katrina, Obama announced the “British Petroleum” oil spill the “worst environmental disaster the US has ever faced”. America’s grubby politicians, green-lobby tub-thumpers, compensation claimants and their mega-bucks lawyers went completely ballistic every night on prime-time TV. However with more than 4,000 oil wells in the Gulf, the ecosystem is used to seepage, the light oil dissipated quickly in its warm waters, and powerful currents from the enormous Mississippi Delta swept much of it away from the shore. Today the pristine beaches are back to normal but Obama’s poisonous remarks have wiped £45 billion off the value of BP, damaged millions of US and UK pensions, and wrecked the tourist trade.
BP is literally banking on our “gnat-sized” attention spans and our understandable crisis fatigue to let them get away virtually scot free from any responsibility, whether financial or moral, for this massive, man made disaster. They continue to inhibit the flow of accurate information about what has and what is currently happening in the Gulf, they continue to destroy and hide evidence of their culpability, buying scientists, lawyers and politicians, even reporters. Media outlets want us to believe that the oil is largely gone or missing somehow. It may not be as visible now in some areas, but it is there continuing to suck oxygen from the water, causing huge “dead zones” — worse, the toxic dispersants used, largely against recommendations, are there too, making the oil even more dangerous. Please do not buy the media line and assume that soon the crisis will be past. Don’t let BP or Congress off the hook. They could be the only creatures on the hook in large portions of the gulf right now!
I believe your right. They know there’s oil there, and they’ll justify it by saying: How can you expect us to undergo all this cost if we can’t recoup some of our loses. Whatever the current fines may be, double them-at the very least-, and no more dithering on settlements to the lives and livelihoods disrupted.
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