"Independent research is being squeezed by federal agencies on one side and BP on the other." Dr. Harriet M. Perry, Gulf Coast Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, quoted by Shaila Dewan, New York Times, Monday, September 13, 2010.
Government agencies and BP have used all the money currently available for research either to investigate the causes of the Oil Rig Explosion and the Oil Spill, or to build up BP's legal defense against resulting Claims. See Shaila Dewan, "The Spill's Money Squeeze/Scientists Say Lack of Cash is Hindering Research on Environmental Impact" p. A19, col. 1 (New York Times Nat'l ed., Monday, September 13, 2010). The effect is to concentrate the power to hire and pay for most if not all of the research on those subjects, in the hands of a few Government Agencies and BP:
The only federal agency to distribute any significant grant money for oil spill research, the National Science Foundation, is out of money until the next fiscal year begins Oct. 1. The Environmental Protection Agency, which has only $2 million to give out, is still gearing up its program. A $500 million initiative for independent research promised by BP, which was to be awarded by an international panel of scientists, has become mired in a political fight over control. State agencies, too, are stymied.
Id. The researchers frozen out include scientists at the University of South Florida and at Louisiana State University. But not those hired by BP. Id.
Whether and when Claimants, Potentially Responsible Parties, potential Defendants and their Insurance Companies (aside from BP and presumably, BP's Insurers), and anyone other than Government Agencies and BP will have access to reliable scientific research into the causes and effects of the Gulf Coast Oil Catastrophe, remains to be seen.
The Insurance Questions including Business Interruption Coverage Issues posed by the Gulf Coast Oil Catastrophe, have largely been experienced before, in general terms. They have generally been addressed by many Courts, in many decided Cases including past cases involving Catastrophe Claims. Dennis Wall is Co-Author of the leading book on Insurance Coverage for Catastrophe Claims, "CATClaims: Insurance Coverage for Natural and Man-Made Disasters" (West Publishing Company 2008; 2010 Supplement in process). Mr. Wall will be a featured speaker on several panels which will address the BP Oil Spill Catastrophe, and other Catastrophes which have recently given rise to Damages Claims and Insurance Claims. On September 15, 2010, he will be a featured speaker on a panel addressing "BP Oil Spill Damages Claims: The Coverage Predicates" at the September 15, 2010 Seminar of the Insurance Law Committee sponsored by the Orange County Bar Association in Orlando, Florida. Mr. Wall will speak on a panel at the American Conference Institute's Bad Faith Litigation Conference in Orlando, Florida on November 30, 2010 on "Dealing With Catastrophic Disasters: How to Properly Investigate and Handle Overwhelming Claims". The American Conference Institute is offering a discount to readers of this Blog: Download ACI Advises Readers of the Insurance Claims and Issues and Insurance Claims and Bad Faith Law Blog are entitled to a discount.
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