ProPublica Reporting Network
Where Things Stand: Gulf Oil Spill Claims
One of the central pieces of BP's program to make amends after the Gulf oil spill disaster was a claims system to compensate individuals and businesses that lost money. Although nearly $3 billion has been paid out, there have been chronic delays that have caused frustration and serious economic hardship to claimants.
Gulf Spill Paymaster Acknowledges Transparency Problems and Outlines Fixes
Kenneth Feinberg said he recognized shortcomings in communicating with claimants and promised to give them more information going forward.
Some Gulf Spill Claimants Waiting for Months: Feinberg Blames Tricky Policy Decisions
Some claimants from the Gulf oil spill have been waiting for months without a decision, and claims czar Ken Feinberg says the problem is in deciding, ‘What should we do with that claim?’
A New Partnership: American Public Media’s Public Insight Network
Today ProPublica announces its partnership with American Public Media’s Public Insight Network. This presents another opportunity to collaborate with newsrooms around the country.
Reporting Recipe: Using Amazon's Mechanical Turk for Data Projects
Announcing ProPublica’s guide to using Mechanical Turk for data-journalism projects.
Gulf Spill Fund Offers Little Information to Claimants
Acknowledging his operation should be doing a better job of providing information, the claims czar promises to deploy more agents in the Gulf to respond to desperate claimants.
Distributed Reporting and Social Media Spring Intern
ProPublica offers one distributed reporting/social media internship each spring, summer and fall. We are hiring immediately for the spring internship. Applications should be sent by the end of October.
Gulf Compensation Czar Says Claims Will No Longer Face Geographic Test
A decision by Kenneth Feinberg, the Gulf compensation czar, to no longer consider proximity to the spill in claims eligibility is particularly beneficial to hotels and restaurants in southern Florida that claimed a decline in tourism, though oil never arrived on their beaches
Gulf Spill Paymaster Says He Has Eliminated Claims Backlog – While Claimants Disagree
Gulf spill claims czar Kenneth Feinberg says his operation has eliminated backlog of older claims, but claimants still report problems.
Obama Administration Criticizes Slow Payments by Gulf Spill Claims Czar
The pace of BP claims payments is called unacceptably slow, and the official in charge promises new procedures to speed up the program.
Frustrated Oil Spill Claimants Consider Alternative Compensation Fund
Some claimants, frustrated by the wait in their applications for funds in the Gulf Coast to be adjudicated by claims czar Kenneth Feinberg, are turning to a little-known alternative fund administered by the Coast Guard.
Gulf Compensation Chief Retreats From Promises to Speed Claims Process
Just two weeks into the Gulf oil spill claims process, payout czar Ken Feinberg admits the promises of payments within 48 hours or seven days are unrealistic, and apologizes for letting people down.
Have You Worked Processing Gulf Spill Damage Claims?
If you are working (or previously worked) for BP, the GCCF, Worley, ESIS, BrownGreer, the Garden City Group or any of the other subcontractors or temp agencies that have helped with the claims process, we want to hear about your experience.
New Gulf Compensation Chief Lags in Processing Claims
Kenneth Feinberg’s new system for handling claims from the Gulf oil spill is already running into delays. Feinberg had guaranteed a two-day response time, but some claimants say it isn’t happening yet.
BP's Claims Reporting Leaves a Fuzzy Picture
How well claimants are being compensated for oil spill damages is impossible to tell from BP’s numbers. Those who have been paid are all counted the same, regardless of the details.
MSNBC.com, Time and Others Join Our BP Claims Project
Other news organizations are helping ProPublica reach people who have filed claims in the BP oil spill.
In Shakeup, Incoming Spill Claims Czar Will Drop BP's Contractor
The independent claims czar for the BP spill plans to drop the contractor BP had been using and hire two companies to replace it.
