Oysterman James A. Miller is frustrated that he only received $12,600 from the fund for losses he says topped $56,000.
"We're over this game. You need to rightfully pay us," Miller told Feinberg, his voice trembling. "We are disappointed in you."
"I'm trying to run this facility as best I can," Feinberg responded.
He promised to review denied claims, and give a second look at the ones where people feel they were shortchanged. "I will personally do my best," he said.
Many residents, fishermen and business owners have been complaining for months that the claims process hasn't been paying them enough, has been denying claims with no explanation or has simply been too slow in processing payments.
The U.S. Department of Justice has written letters to Feinberg, expressing concern that payments were not being processed quickly enough and that Feinberg wasn't being transparent.
Lead attorneys for residents and businesses suing over the oil spill have asked a federal judge to intervene, claiming Feinberg is nothing more than a pawn for BP, which is paying his firm $850,000 a month to administer the fund. Any money left over is expected to be returned to BP.
Feinberg has said repeatedly he is working on behalf of spill victims and that he is not influenced in his decisions by BP. His goal all along has been to keep people out of a lengthy court process, thereby providing fewer clients to the complaining plaintiffs attorneys who have already filed more than 300 lawsuits over the spill.
"I'm absolutely neutral," Feinberg told the crowd Monday.
"I'm not BP. I'm trying to run this facility as best I can."
Expect to hear more about how he's doing the best he can. He's not actually lying about that, of course. It's just that people are confused as to what his job actually is.
More at Disenfranchised Citizen.
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