GCCF silent as deadline approaches

The deadline to file damages resulting from the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill is Nov. 23. But many people waiting to get information, and even personnel assigned to help businesses and individuals report their losses through local agencies, wonder if they will be left abandoned by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility.

The basic problem, according to individuals, business owners and even government leaders is that the authority assigned to oversee disbursement of $20 billion that BP said it would pay for losses along the Gulf Coast will not return telephone calls or e-mail messages. Any answers they do get are vague at best.

“The only thing [GCCF personnel] would tell us is that people are not filling out forms,” said Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet after he had made a personal appearance at the GCCF office in Houma last Tuesday. “My concern is that they have all these people getting claims from other areas, but why are we not getting more claims?”

Claudet said it was challenging to get any information from local GCCF staff members. He is not the only one to experience that difficulty.

Daphnie Domino took on her job as claims outreach coordinator for the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority on Sept. 1. Her task has been to educate businesses as to what they need to do to file claims related to the BP oil spill and make sure those businesses are getting the information they need.

On Oct. 4, Domino’s office, along with other government entities, was given a specific telephone line to contact the GCCF on behalf of claimants. The only problem was that when Domino and other outreach coordinators called the number, all they got was a recording to leave a message. Then their calls went unreturned.

“The number that they gave us has been very unsuccessful. You get a voice telling you to leave a message and you don’t get a return phone call,” Domino said.

Since Oct. 4, Domino said she has been in contact with 144 businesses regarding claims. She has also placed more than 20 calls to the GCCF – all with unsatisfactory results.

“We were given a form to have our claimants fill out and sign,” Domino said. “When you put [the claimant’s] number on it, they sign it giving me permission to inquire on their behalf. But we haven’t been very successful in getting more information.”

Maggie Shipman is a claims processor from Lafayette who has been assigned by the federal government to oversee other processors in Louisiana and make sure businesses and individuals are aware of what they need to do to file a claim.

Shipman suggested that problems with the GCCF might simply be a matter of work overload, but clarified that she has no direct contact with either the GCCF or administrator Kenneth Feinberg. Shipman struggled to find the right words to state her position.

“[All] we know is the [contact] number the Gulf Coast Claims Facility has offered,” Shipman said. She explained that many of the GCCF phone lines are automated, and admitted that it can be challenging for one person wanting to talk to another person or get a timely response after messages have been left.

Shipman was unable to identify what might be considered a reasonable amount of time for a phone call to be returned by the GCCF. She also admitted last Monday that she had several calls from the previous week that had not been returned.

Amy Weiss of Point Blank Public Affairs in Washington, D.C., said she handles press inquires for the GCCF. She was only available after both e-mail messages and telephone calls were placed to her office.

Weiss said she did not know of any special telephone number for claims coordinators or processors to use to contact the GCCF and only knew of the toll-free number posted on the GCCF website. “There is only one number for the GCCF,” she said.

The Tri-Parish Times visited the GCCF office at 814 Grand Caillou Blvd. in Houma. A GCCF worker, who identified himself only as “Clayton,” met a reporter outside the two-suite entrance.

When asked if the facility manager was available to take a few questions, Clayton went inside then upon returning told the reporter he would have to leave the property. “You’re not allow…,” Clayton said, stopping mid-sentence.

Clayton told the Tri-Parish Times that an interview with the manager would not be permitted and said it was a matter of “orders from above.”

“We don’t give out information,” Clayton said.

A telephone message left with the BP media office in Houston, seeking intervention with the GCCF, was not returned.

The GCCF website did list the number of claims submitted thus far and amounts paid. According to the website, as of Nov. 1, the number of claims filed in Louisiana totaled 136,243 with payment amounts that surpassed $608 million.

In comparison, Florida posted 99,163 claims thus far representing approximately $574 million. Alabama saw 47,135 claimants receive just over $332 million. Mississippi claims stood at 37,871 and held a payout amount of more than $151 million. And 6,423 claims in Texas received a payout of approximately $68 million.

According to louisianagulfresponse.com, the Tri-parish area saw payouts through Sept. 30 totaling over $58 million in Terrebonne Parish, nearly $11 million in St. Mary Parish and slightly more than $38 million in Lafourche Parish.

Some Louisiana parishes bordering Arkansas were also listed as having filed claims and received payouts from the GCCF. For instance, Bossier Parish received $26,713 according to the Louisiana Gulf Response report, Webster Parish has gotten $116,777, Union Parish was offered $67,301, and Morehouse Parish received $502.

One of the payout locations posted among the GCCF data as having received $4,969,499 was identified on the parish listing simply as “unknown.”

Weiss said she did not know what unknown meant.

According to an e-mail received from the Louisiana Gulf Coast Restoration, the reference to “unknown” means that the amounts could not be attributed to one specific parish.

Terrebonne’s parish president said that while some figures might sound impressive they inadequately represent his region’s population or the economic damage suffered in the Tri-parish area by the oil spill.

“The main thing is to try and get the claims in hand,” Domino said. “Speaking to businesses and individuals, some of these people are pretty desperate.”

Neither claims coordinators nor public officials could solve the mystery as to why inquires made of the GCCF were not being answered.

Both Claudet and Domino expressed concern that the lack of openness exhibited by the GCCF could result in businesses and residents having to miss out on compensation for their losses even if all claims were filed by the deadline.

Little activity among employees inside the Gulf Coast Claims Facility in Houma illustrates the silent treatment claimants contend they receive from the agency. MIKE NIXON