Facing critical questioning by a handful of senators on the Homeland Security Committee's Disaster Recovery Subcommittee, Feinberg acknowledged that his operation has had some difficulty ensuring payments are uniform, and promised that next Tuesday he would post on the GCCF website new methodologies for calculating interim and final payments.
But Feinberg has failed to deliver on that promise before.
Two weeks ago he told The Times-Picayune that the methodologies would be available by this week. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., also said Thursday that Feinberg promised last month to disclose the calculation methods, but has yet to keep his word.
Feinberg acknowledged that he is a month late, but said he's still trying to understand what kind of future losses the spill is going to inflict, a speculative and difficult endeavor.
"The reason, Sen. Shelby, that it took longer than I promised you, I've got to get this right," Feinberg said.
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Ve Nguyen, a Plaquemines Parish fisher, also testified and complained about the problems Feinberg has had paying subsistence claims. The GCCF has received more than 16,000 claims of a loss of subsistence, a particularly important issue for Vietnamese fishers, some of whom consume and barter a portion of their commercial catch. Only 15 subsistence claims have been paid.
Nguyen, who delivered his remarks through an interpreter, asked Feinberg why GCCF's internal appeals process is available only to those who receive at least $250,000.
Feinberg said that any claimant has the right to appeal to the Coast Guard's National Pollution Funds Center, and he limited his own appeal panel's purview because of concerns about delaying the process.
Craig Bennett, head of the Coast Guard center, said his organization is authorized by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and stands ready to hear any appeals challenging the GCCF's determinations. The Coast Guard center has received just 507 appeals. All 200 that have been adjudicated were denied, Bennett said.