BP IS NOT DENYING CLAIMS BUT NOT PAYING THEM OUT EITHER?

So, the Gulf oil leak is nicely plugged up with mud and cement, and the clean-up effort is sort of moving along (a whole other story) but now we're learning they aren't denying the 145,000 claims they've received from distressed and displaced workers, but they're not paying them all out either. Reportedly, they have so far paid out $324 million dollars without denying one claim. Yeah, it sounds good until you dig a little deeper. That's where you'll find the dung.

Yeah, many of the paid claims were only partial payments. And, thousands are still in limbo; some BP says are still being evaluated, and others they say are missing documentation. A Mississippi attorney was quoted as sayin, "They don't deny them [claims]. They just hold them open forever." Hmmm. Sounds like a snow-job to us.

The speculation is that they're really just biding time until "the federally appointed administrator of the $20 billion compensation fund BP established at the behest of the White House, Kenneth Feinberg, takes over the claims processing this month." This way, BP will not be "the bad guy" with regards to claim rejections. They are already re-directing "problem" claims, such as those from restaurants and tourists located in areas not directly affected by the spill. But there are tens of thousands still waiting for their payments, and it's still up in the air how many will actually receive them.

Additionally, we found it interesting that certain news stations have recently been airing stories stating that the spill is being blown out of proportion, citing expert scientists as their sources. Funny, that awhile before these stories began to air, we learned that BP had tried to bring (now former) BP scientists to the side of their oil spill legal team, which would pay out nice dividends, but stipulated that they were to sign non-disclosure agreements which would legally prohibit them from discussing/disclosing inside BP info. They all declined the offer. So where did these new expert scientists come from? The one's claiming the spill "is not as major as the Obama administration and the media make it seem?" Hmmm...

On another BP sidenote: Now that the leaking well is plugged, they are chomping at the bit to start drilling again. IN THE SAME general area where the Gulf leak originated. Why? Because there's oil-a-plenty down there and BP wants it! Yup, greed over good. It seems to win every time around these parts.

Stay tuned. We're sure this fun is far from over. [Huff Po]