$20 Billion Not Enough to Pay Spill Claims?
It turns out $20 billion may not be enough to compensate the victims of the massive Gulf oil spill.
Kenneth Feinberg, the White House appointee charged with overseeing claims from the spill, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that it’s too difficult to determine how far-reaching claims from the spill will be while oil is still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.
Feinberg said:
“„“Until the oil stops, you don’t know how pervasive the oil spill will be, so you don’t know if somebody who has not been harmed at all today will be harmed by additional oil next week.”
And he continued:
“„“Once the oil stops, I believe we’ll be able to very quickly get a handle on the comprehensiveness of the claims population.”
At the request of President Obama, BP agreed to put $20 billion into an independent escrow account from which all “legitimate claims” resulting from the spill will be paid. Of the nearly 105,000 claims that have been made, more than 52,000 — totaling $165 million in total payments — have been approved, 46,000 are still awaiting documentation and 13,000 are pending due to “contact difficulties,” BP says on its website.
Nearly 105,000 claims have been made and nearly 46,000 claims are awaiting more documentation, the site says.
