Gulf Coast Claims Facility Faces Audit

[Kurt]

http://www.wctv.tv/politics/headlin...pendent_Audit_Before_Years_End_126014074.html

The Department of Justice is requiring an independent audit of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, in the wake of complaints about a lack of transparency and accountability with the $20 billion fund set up to compensate victims of the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill.




One of the complaints came from Florida's U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. He sent a letter to President Obama earlier this year asking for a financial review of the fund. He did so after the Associated Press and other news outlets revealed a $10 million claims payment to an unnamed BP business partner at the oil company's behest.


When the fund was established after the April 2010 spill, the administration said it would operate independently of the oil company. Nelson and others called that independence into question over the $10 million payment. "I respectfully request that your administration initiate a review of all administrative operations of the claims fund," Nelson wrote to Obama.


U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. this week disclosed there will be such "an independent audit" of the claims facility - and, before the end of this year. "We will work with you to identify an appropriate time to commence such an audit before the end of the year," Holder wrote in his letter to claims czar Kenneth Feinberg, dated July 20.


Nelson's office obtained a copy of the letter from the Justice Department. "Good. I'm glad," he said of the audit. "There's clearly a need to assure more accountability and transparency."

 

[mputnal]

The hope is that Florida's CFO will be allowed to be a part of this audit process. The audit will be the only option for small business claimants to receive any hope of fairness other than going to court. There is still the need to have cautious optimism regarding what affects the audit will have on the GCCF. Even though this is the first attempt at any oversight I do not know if the audit will lead to enforcement of the intent of OPA law. If this audit does not find inconsistency and inaccuracy with claim determination methodologies then it will be a reflection of just how powerful BP has become. I will even go a step farther and say that failure of this audit to affect an enforcement of the intent of OPA further supports the failure of our duopolitic system as it relates to the regulation of large corporations.

There are some in this forum as well as local media who believe that the majority of our community businesses are fully recovered or at least well on their way to full recovery. That is good news to BP and those that truly are recovering. To only use realestate sales, bed tax collections and a general opinion that there are more tourist this year than last is extremely short sighted. The increased economic activity was occuring last year before the spill. Who really knows for sure what sales would have been this year if not for last years spill? There can be an argument made that if there had never been a spill that 2011 economic activity would have completely recovered from the recession years of 2008 and 2009. We are also forgetting the unknow and uncertain future affects of the spill. This kind of thinking will get you the title of "pessimistic".

It is unfortunate that optimisim has become a term that is almost religious in nature. In other words if you are not optimistic you must be on the "other" dark side! Trust me this is not about sides because we are all on the same side.