Business Owner Strife: Gulf Coast media report on appeals’ court decisions and BP’s advertisements

Coverage of the ongoing BP Deepwater settlement challenges has focused primarily on BP’s account of what is happening with claims consideration. More recent coverage, however, is beginning to show what some affected businesses think and how they are being affected.

A Dec. 5, 2013 report by New Orleans’s TV station WWL states, “BP wanted legal peace when it signed the massive oil spill claims settlement in spring 2012. That’s why, when Juneau’s office presented BP with scenarios under which claimants might be paid for losses that had nothing to do with the spill, the oil giant agreed. . . But after the bills started rolling in, BP changed its tune.”

The article describes the strife one Gulf Coast business has had since the spill and with filing a claim related to their losses. The owner states, “They [BP] signed an agreement. They want to back out of the agreement . . . The 5th Circuit Court right now is playing ball with everybody’s future in business like ours. It’s not a happy day.” Read the full report here.

In another Dec. 5, 2013 report, the Mobile TV station WKRG discusses BP’s ad campaign and reaction from a business owner impacted by the oil spill and still trying to recover. Commenting on BP’s ad in the NY Times, the business owner said, “It’s really childish . . . It’s offensive...” Read or watch the full report here.