Lafourche claimants get their wish, Feinberg

It was not a circus as was initially feared by the BP claims czar’s office. No lions, bears or trapeze artists were in attendance, but approximately 300 men, women and children did pack into the Mathews Government Complex Monday night when Kenneth Feinberg made his first public appearance in Lafourche Parish.

Seventeen people addressed the administrator of BP’s $20 billion claim fund. Some raised their voice, others fought back tears and a few even cracked wise as they tried to describe their plight before their peers.

The claimants’ comments touched on the obvious topics, like unpaid and partially paid claims and confusion over the Gulf Coast Claims Facility’s method of operation, but also ventured into a rapidly rising coast wide concern personal injury damages.

“We are paying physical injury claims,” Feinberg said to the gathered crowd during the Lafourche Parish Council BP Oil Spill Committee meeting. “You’ve got to document the claims and you’ve got to demonstrate that the illness is due to the spill, and we’ll pay the claim.

“Please remember, if you accept a final payment or an interim payment for lost wages or lost income, you do not waive that physical injury claim. Physical injury claims are eligible and we will process the claims.”

Cathy Blanchard, whose husband was one of the seven clean-up workers hospitalized at West Jefferson Memorial Hospital last May, informed Feinberg that GCCF has not paid her husband’s hospital bills despite doctor documentation of “due to chemical exposure.”

“We’ve been paying doctor bills,” Feinberg said.

In regards to claimants who contend they have either received no payment or a partial payment, Feinberg rehashed the three available options: gamble that the future of the Gulf will return strong and accept a final payment, which doubles losses from 2010; return to GCCF offices each quarter with documented losses from the period and accept an interim payment; or accept a quick payment worth $5,000 for individuals and $25,000 for businesses.

The claimant loses the right to sue and the ability to receive further GCCF payment if he or she accepts a final payment or quick payment. No matter which avenue is pursued, Feinberg stressed, adequate documentation is needed.

“If somebody’s denied a six month payment from last November, there’s a reason. I don’t need tax returns. I’ve never said I need tax returns,” Feinberg said to a groaning crowd. “There has got to be some evidence of what it is that’s lost, other than a politician writing a letter to me that’s saying, ‘This guy lost $80,000. If it’s not a tax return, is there a check stub, is there trip tickets, is there something?”

Kerry Guidry, a commercial fisherman, said he received seven percent of his claim’s worth. Dean Blanchard, owner of a large seafood supply company in Grand Isle, said he received only one-third. Cathy Blanchard, the wife of a commercial fisherman, said her family has received one fourth of what they deserve.

Between the unpaid claimants, the fishermen, seafood salesmen and those in the oil industry or various auxiliary businesses, and Feinberg, there exists an obvious schism. Whether it’s Feinberg’s $850,000 monthly paycheck signed by BP officials or a perceived lack of empathy that corresponds with the tremendous gap in fortune, the Lafourche residents feel that there is ample reason not to trust Feinberg.

“What have you lost since the Deepwater Horizon spill, April 20 of last year?” Clayton Matherne asked Feinberg. “What have you and your family lost? What have y’all suffered? What has been taken from y’all? Nothing, right? What about the people, myself included, that’s lost everything that they’ve had, everything that they’ve worked for, everything that they took pride in?

“That pride has been taken. Not by choice, not by will. By an incident, April 20th of last year, that could have been avoided by a company you represent, but BP and all these companies seem to think the people down here in Lafourche are ignorant.”

Feinberg responded by asserting he does not represent the oil company, a statement that was met with more evidence of the distrust – sarcastic laughter and snide comments from those in attendance. “You’re a liar. BP pays you,” one man shouted.

“I still have two docks in Venice, La., ground zero, that have not been compensated,” said Clint Guidry, president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association. “I just can’t understand it. I don’t know what it’s going to take, I really don’t.

“We had a lot a faith in you, Ken, and I’ll tell you what: I’m rapidly losing that faith, I’m losing that respect.”

Considering the qualms and the amount of people, the three councilmen who preside on the BP Oil Spill Committee said after the meeting that they were pleased with the respect the people showed Feinberg. And outside of a few, minimal outbursts and scattered, timely proclaimed disapprovals, the crowd patiently sat through the 90 minute meeting and listened.

A part of the criticism that has been directed toward the GCCF since its creation has focused on the nonspecific manner in what claims have been denied, which Feinberg also addressed.

“Since Feb. 18, when we announced the interim and final payments, you are right about the criticism of not knowing why,” Feinberg said. “If you look at the letters now that go out, I think you will see that we do a much better job explaining the reasons for the decision, the status of the claim, why you got X or Y. Also, you can go to a local office now and they will explain in more detail.”

After the meeting, Lafourche’s parish president said it was more of the same as far as the results and concerns on display at the public forum.

“About the same as it’s gone every time before,” Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph said of the meeting. “Unfortunately, it was many of the same people who talked, but I think they’re symbolic of many of the problems that are going on.

“It’s taking too long. It’s putting people in a bind.”

Randolph said she voiced her concerns about the duration of GCCF in February when it was comment time. It is scheduled to run through August 2013. “Let’s be realistic. That to me was the worst of it, and they shouldn’t have kept it to that.”

Feinberg said about 8,000 people and businesses in Lafourche have been paid about $70 million in the seven months since the GCCF has been in operation.

“The program is working in terms of money going out the door,” Feinberg said. “We’ve spent. We’ve paid out. In the last seven months, we’re approaching $4 billion, including about $1.7 billion for Louisiana. We’re trying to do the right thing. Problems? Yes. We’ve beefed up the local staff. No one has to wait any longer. 1-800 the phone rings, the phone rings.

“There are people now, in this parish, ready to meet and give you answers. We’ve got you lawyers if you want it. We’ll get you accountants if you want it. I’m trying to do the right thing for the citizens of this parish.”

Daniel Lorraine, Dist. 9 councilman and member of the oil spill committee, pioneered the correspondence between the parish government and GCCF’s headman. Feinberg originally agreed to visit Lafourche in February but postponed indefinitely for unspecified reasons before he agreed to appear Monday.

Lorraine said he spoke to Feinberg after a town hall appearance in Grand Isle in January. According to the councilman, Feinberg said, “Invite me, and I’ll come.” Lorraine first sent a registered letter requesting his appearance on Jan. 17.

“I apologize to Lafourche and to all of you,” Feinberg said. “I’ve done my best to travel throughout the Gulf over the last seven months to see as many people as I can, but I promise the citizens of Lafourche, I am here today, I will be back again.”

U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., sent Feinberg a letter last Thursday to express his dismay with what he described as the GCCF issuing hollow promises, reproaching transparency and ignoring the senator’s calls for action.

Vitter had a member of his staff in attendance who delivered a release that contained nine questions directed toward Feinberg. No one in attendance addressed the questions on Vitter’s release, but most of them concerned broken promises made to people at similar public forums and the lack of answers to questions the senator posed to the claims administrator in letters.

“Ken Feinberg has unfortunately shown a pattern of making flimsy promises to the Louisianans who need his help, and he’s compounded this by offering evasive and incomplete responses to my direct inquiries about his handling of the claims process,” Vitter said.

Vitter ridiculed Feinberg for a “pattern of making flimsy promises to the Louisianans who need his help” and his evasion of the claimants, and the senator’s own requests, regarding the processing of claims.

“My office has uncovered a number of small business owners and other Louisiana residents who are being subjected to the bureaucratic hell as they try to navigate this claims process and deal with Mr. Feinberg’s office,” Vitter wrote.

In his most recent letter to Feinberg, the Louisiana senator requested the GCCF headman to donate 12 percent of his monthly salary, $102,000, to the Friends of the Fisherman Fund “or a similar Louisiana based organization dedicated to helping our fishermen rebound.”

A Thibodaux based law firm staffed two Gulf Coast Claims Facility offices in south Lafourche to expedite the claims process for people who seek reparation for losses sustained after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Jerald Block and his son Matthew addressed the Lafourche Parish Council BP Oil Spill Committee March 14, informing the councilmen that Block Law Firm has attorneys in the Grand Isle and Cut Off buildings.

“We are not charging any claimants who come and talk to us,” Jerald Block said. It was not immediately clear if anything beyond consultation was free. Matthew Block said he twice e-mailed GCCF officials and hadn’t been given permission to talk to the media as of press time.

Jerald said the law firm acts as a liaison between claimants and the GCCF, passing the claims “up the line” to get special attention, and Matthew said special consideration is given to people who made mistakes on their forms.

“What the people need is guidance,” Lorraine said. “You give somebody a stack of paperwork, and he don’t know where to start filling it out, but if you have somebody looking at it for him and going over it for him. … It’s mainly guidance.”

Gulf Coast Claims Facility Administrator Kenneth Feinberg (left) listens as Wade Bonvillain addresses the parish council’s BP Oil Spill Committee. Feinberg made his first trip to Lafourche since the GCCF was created seven months ago. ERIC BESSON