What reminded me? It was an article from Monday pointing out that the law firm that did contracts for BP to buy off coastal university scientists was chosen by Feinberg to advise claimants.
Ken Feinberg appoints law firm working with BP to advise oil spill claimantsOne of three law firms appointed by Ken Feinberg last week to advise people filing damage claims through the Gulf Coast Claims Facility has been working for BP since at least June, according to contracts obtained by the Press-Register.
A press spokeswoman for claims czar Ken Feinberg said that he was aware that the Mississippi-based Brunini, Grantham, Grower and Hewes law firm had been doing some work for BP when he chose the company to advise claimants.
..."The Press-Register previously obtained several legal contracts drafted on behalf of BP by lawyers with the Brunini firm. Those contracts describe Brunini attorneys as “BP attorneys.” The contracts were distributed to university scientists along the Gulf Coast and promised lucrative consulting fees to those who agreed to be a part of BP’s legal defense against a pending federal lawsuit concerning the spill.
Under the terms of the three-year contracts, reported by the Press-Register in July, the scientists were to communicate with BP through either Brunini or a second firm, Arnold & Porter, and take orders from the attorneys.
Think Progress, the blog of the Center for American Progress, covered the hiring of the university scientists back in July 2010.
BP Launches Effort To Control Scientific Research Of Oil DisasterForeign oil giant BP is on a spending spree, buying Gulf Coast scientists for its private contractor army. Scientists from Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University and Texas A&M have “signed contracts with BP to work on their behalf in the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) process” that determines how much ecological damage the Gulf of Mexico region is suffering from BP’s toxic black tide. The contract, the Mobile Press-Register has learned, “prohibits the scientists from publishing their research, sharing it with other scientists or speaking about the data that they collect for at least the next three years.” Bob Shipp, head of marine sciences at the University of South Alabama — whose entire department BP wished to hire — refused to sign over their integrity to the corporate criminal:
We told them there was no way we would agree to any kind of restrictions on the data we collect. It was pretty clear we wouldn’t be hearing from them again after that. We didn’t like the perception of the university representing BP in any fashion.
The lucrative $250-an-hour deal “buys silence,” said Robert Wiygul, an Ocean Springs environmental lawyer who analyzed the contract. “It makes me feel like they were more interested in making sure we couldn’t testify against them than in having us testify for them,” said George Crozier, head of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, who was approached by BP.
Here is more from last July from the Press Register.
BP buys up Gulf scientists for legal defense, roiling academic communityBP PLC attempted to hire the entire marine sciences department at one Alabama university, according to scientists involved in discussions with the company's lawyers. The university declined because of confidentiality restrictions that the company sought on any research.
..."BP officials declined to answer the newspaper's questions about the matter. Among the questions: how many scientists and universities have been approached, how many are under contract, how much will they be paid, and why the company imposed confidentiality restrictions on scientific data gathered on its behalf.
.."More than one scientist interviewed by the Press-Register described being offered $250 an hour through BP lawyers. At eight hours a week, that amounts to $104,000 a year.
Scientists from Louisiana State University, University of Southern Mississippi and Texas A&M have reportedly accepted, according to academic officials. Scientists who study marine invertebrates, plankton, marsh environments, oceanography, sharks and other topics have been solicited.
University of South Florida in the Tampa area was doing some great research in the Gulf after the spill. The latest I found on what they have reported was on December 19. Nothing new since then unless I am missing something.
New USF report on oil spillThroughout the Deepwater Horizon disaster, numerous scientists and whistle blowers warned of the dangers of BP’s excessive use of dispersant on their massive oil spill. Now there is new evidence to suggest that much of that oil is killing marine life and causing serious damage to the food chain. The area of contamination discovered by scientists from the University of South Florida covers several thousand square miles. All the marine life in the settled oil was dead.
I don't see anything much on the news locally anymore. I find it odd that Kenneth Feinberg had to use the same law firm for claimants that handles the contract with scientists who must submit their findings first to BP.
I don't have any trust at all in the way this oil spill was and is being handled. I don't trust how BP has handled it, and I question the way it has been handled by our government. It's been too hands off, and it leaves me with the impression that too much is hidden from our view.
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