'We have people that are still sick, we still are getting tar balls on our beaches, and many of our people haven't been made whole,' Mississippi priest says
WASHINGTON - Carrying signs saying, "BP, Keep your promise, Make us whole," about 100 people, many from the Gulf Coast, demonstrated outside the offices of Gulf Coast Claims Facility administrator Kenneth Feinberg on Monday to urge more transparency and urgency when it comes to victims of last year's oil spill.
The Gulf Coast Claims Facility reviews every claim, oil spill claims administrator Kenneth Feinberg said Monday is response to the protests outside his office in Washington, D.C. "We have people that are still sick, we still are getting tar balls on our beaches, and many of our people haven't been made whole," said the Rev. Anthony Thompson of Gulfport, Miss., during the demonstration about three blocks from the White House.
Kindra Arneson of Eunice cried as she told the crowd that her husband and 9-year-old daughter have been sick constantly since the BP spill, and that fishers are finding very little to catch since the spill.
"My daughter has been home with a fever every six weeks and she's complaining of stomach problems and being nauseous all the time, and she's never had any health problems before April, 2010," Arneson said.
"When Ken Feinberg took over the Gulf Coast Claims Facility he said he'd work for us, not BP," Arneson said. "We believed him like a bunch of idiots."
Arneson said she would like to know how much of the payments made by Feinberg's office have gone to people outside the Gulf region. At a hearing last week, Feinberg said he has received applications from people in all 50 states and 38 nations.
Feinberg also said he'd like to pay rig workers who lost work because of the moratorium imposed by the Obama administration after the spill but can't without BP's permission. He agreed that more needs to be done for shrimpers who continue to face economic problems
But he said his office generally has been responsive.
Asked to comment on the demonstration Monday, Feinberg said through spokeswoman Amy Weiss: " No comment. The GCCF reviews every claim."
On Monday, BP said in a statement that it had paid out $2.46 billion, as of Nov. 1, for Louisiana, including $1.77 billion to individuals and businesses, most of it through the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. It also said it paid $333.2 million to governments in Louisiana, $290 million for "vessels of opportunity" that participated in response efforts after the spill, $10 million for research and $15 million in behavioral health payments, according to the BP statement.