BP Spill Claims Czar Told: Loosen Purse Strings

ATLANTA - The Justice Department is telling the administrator of the $20 billion fund for Gulf oil spill victims that his job is not to preserve money or return it to BP, and is insisting he loosen the purse strings to help people who are still suffering from last year's disaster.

In a letter Friday to Kenneth Feinberg, who is administering the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli alluded to the fact that only roughly $3.5 billion of the $20 billion fund has been spent.

Any money not spent goes back to BP.

DOJ Letter to Kenneth Feinberg (pdf)
Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf

Perrelli said the GCCF is entering "another critical period for the people of the Gulf," following a lost summer season last year.

"To ensure that 2011 is not a lost season as well, and to turn the page on the spill, the next few weeks and months will be critical," Perrelli wrote. "Businesses in the Gulf that have suffered harm as a result of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill need to be investing in their businesses and marketing themselves now to avoid losing another year of revenue and to continue the revitalization of the Gulf that is a national priority.

"This is a matter of urgency," Perrelli said.

He urged Feinberg to reexamine the categories of eligible and ineligible claims which the GCCF applies to emergency advance payments, and to make sure the processing of interim claims - especially regarding payments to struggling businesses - is conducted efficiently and quickly.

Perrelli also said that Feinberg needs to be more transparent, and he should take a second look at the emergency advance payments the fund paid to victims to determine if the process was fair.

Feinberg did not immediately return a call from the AP for comment.