Hood: No decision yet on whether Miss. will sue BP

State News

Discussion

August 18, 2010

The Associated Press Associated Press Wed Aug 18, 2010, 06:00 AM CDT

JACKSON —     Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said Tuesday he hasn’t decided yet whether to file a state lawsuit against BP over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

   In an interview with The Associated Press, Hood said he’s taking time to evaluate possible claims for damages created by the spill or by chemicals used to break up the oil. He said determining the environmental impact on fish, for example, could take months or longer.

   ‘‘We’re in no hurry to file any litigation,’’ Hood said.

   Alabama’s attorney general sued BP last week.

   Mississippi’s Republican Gov. Haley Barbour last month urged Hood, a Democrat, not to file any ‘‘premature’’ lawsuits against the company. Barbour said after Alaska sued over the Exxon Valdez spill, that state had trouble receiving help from the oil company.

   Hood said Tuesday that BP is not acting on most oil-spill claims filed by people and private businesses in Mississippi. He said BP’s own statistics from last Thursday showed that 6,050 of 9,600 of the ‘‘actionable’’ Mississippi claims were still being evaluated. That’s 63 percent.

   BP spokeswoman Margaret Laney said in statement that BP is committed to paying people and businesses for their losses.

   ‘‘We very quickly set up a claims process and continued to enhance it to receive and process claims,’’ she said.

   BP said it will stop accepting new claims after Wednesday. Government-appointed administrator Kenneth Feinberg will take over the process starting Aug. 23.

   BP said Tuesday it has received 24,493 claims in Mississippi and has paid almost $29.5 million.

   Hood said he believes BP is making multiple payments on some claims to increase its numbers, and that the company is delaying decisions in Mississippi so it can say it hasn’t been denying claims.

   ‘‘They’re just putting this off as part of their PR campaign,’’ Hood said in the AP interview. ‘‘It’s part of their strategy to preserve their brand.’’

   Hood said that based on BP’s statistics from last Thursday, the company had paid 363 of the 1,062 claims from rental property owners, 53 of the 213 claims from restaurant owners and 30 of 695 claims for boats.

   In a July 29 news release, Barbour said: ‘‘I want those people and businesses with legitimate claims to recover their rightful damages; I want the state of Mississippi to recover for its economic losses and damages to restore any natural resources damaged by the spill. Premature litigation would benefit a handful of plaintiff lawyers in the long term but likely harm claimants who would otherwise be paid in the near term.’’

Text Only

State News

House panel snubs Hood’s effort to testify
A state House committee voted Tuesday to push forward a bill that would cut Attorney General Jim Hood’s authority, turning down Hood’s request to speak to the group before it voted.
Hood, steaming mad that he couldn’t speak, claimed the bill is unconstitutional. The lone Democrat in statewide office, Hood said he made a personal plea to House Judiciary A Committee Mark Baker to have extra time to study the bill.

February 8, 2012
Davis says he won’t resign as Southaven mayor
Fourth-term Southaven Mayor Greg Davis said Monday he plans to remain on the job amid continuing state and federal scrutiny of his spending of city money.

January 31, 2012
Miss. AG: Pardoned killer found in Wyoming
A convicted killer pardoned by former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour was in Wyoming with his fiancie and initially drove off when he was located Sunday by investigators seeking to serve him with a court summons, authorities said Monday.

January 31, 2012
Gov. Bryant trims staff salaries
Gov. Phil Bryant is saving taxpayers at least $200,000 by cutting spending in his office.
According to documents obtained by The Clarion-Ledger (http://on.thec-l.com/zT7zi3 ) through an open records request, the amount Bryant will spend on salaries in his office is 10 percent less than former Gov. Haley Barbour. Bryant achieved that through a reduction in posts as well as salary cuts.

January 23, 2012
Attorney: Miss. AG knew of governor’s pardons
The state attorney general’s office was involved in getting pardons approved by former Gov. Haley Barbour but has hidden its involvement in the process, according to an attorney for four of the former inmate trusties who received a pardon.

January 23, 2012
Miss. AG: Some Barbour pardons might be invalid
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says he believes former Gov. Haley Barbour might’ve violated the state Constitution by pardoning some inmates who failed to give sufficient public notice that they were seeking clemency.

January 12, 2012
Barbour budget proposes education changes
    Republican Gov. Haley Barbour calls for reducing the number of school districts and merging some universities, reviving many of his past recommendations in his final Mississippi budget proposal.
   He also suggests spending the $97.4 million remaining in a health care trust fund that was created before he took office.
   Barbour released his nearly $5.5 billion budget Tuesday. His second term ends Jan. 10, nearly six months before fiscal 2013 begins on July 1.

December 21, 2011
Mississippi governor defends proposed offshore drilling regs
    Allowing oil and gas drilling 10 to 12 miles south of Mississippi’s coastline in the Gulf of Mexico is a good idea because it could generate state revenue, Gov. Haley Barbour said Tuesday.
   The Mississippi Development Authority on Monday published proposed regulations to lease state waters in the Gulf for the drilling.
   The regulations are open for public comment until Jan. 20. If they’re approved, a lease sale could take place in 2012, MDA spokesman Dan Turner said Monday.

December 21, 2011
Man gets life in fatal shooting of girlfriend
December 8, 2011
Junior colleges seek fair funding
Mississippi’s junior colleges are hoping the Legislature can make progress on a four-year-old promise to fund the schools at a pre-student level halfway between K-12 students and students at regional universities.
That might seem optimistic given that the first estimates for the fiscal 2013 budget are based on only 0.7 percent revenue growth. A state economist has said that cuts are inevitable for some agencies.

November 25, 2011
More State News Headlines

State News

Search Results

Discussion

Hood: No decision yet on whether Miss. will sue BP

Site Map

Contact Us