Bipartisan group of Coast legislators question BP claims process

Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of legislators from the Mississippi Gulf Coast sent a letter to Trudy Allen of the law firm of Watkins, Ludlam, Winter, & Stennis, who is assisting BP in the handling of its oil spill claims process. Miffed at the "extremely abbreviated public comment period" for the changes to the payment methodology used by BP's Gulf Coast Claims Facility, the legislators requested an opportunity to be heard. They will meet with representatives of the GCCF tomorrow.

Also of concern to the legislators is the adoption of a suspect report by a Texas A&M marine biologist who has determined that the Gulf will be back to normal by 2012. In the wake of reports of numerous dead baby dolphins along the Mississippi Coast, that report looks as if it may be a touch ambitious.