BP has promised publicly to pay all "legitimate" claims by people and businesses damaged by the Gulf oil catastrophe. What exactly makes a claim "legitimate" is a matter for argument. It looks like BP will not be the only one who gets to decide.
"Scientists have found evidence suggesting that chemicals designed to prevent fires are getting into your children's blood and rewiring their brains, leading to attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, hearing problems, slow mental development and, possibly, cancer. They're not great for adults either -- men with high blood levels of flame retardants had a decreased sperm count, and women took longer to conceive -- but because children's nervous systems are still developing, they are even more vulnerable."
"Lawyers for 10,000 workers claiming illnesses from rescue, recovery and debris removal after the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack have agreed with New York City on a $712.5 million compensation fund to settle the cases."
"The sun is about to get a lot more active, which could have ill effects on Earth. So to prepare, top sun scientists met Tuesday to discuss the best ways to protect Earth's satellites and other vital systems from the coming solar storms."
"The owners of a closed uranium mine near Golden have been ordered by the state health department to stop discharging polluted water into a creek that flows into a Denver-area reservoir."
"A multimillionaire House Republican who owns thousands of shares of BP stock has no plans to recuse himself from a congressional investigation related to the Gulf oil spill or from votes on Capitol Hill that could affect his investments in the oil company."
"The Senate Thursday defeated 53-47 an effort to limit the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and President Barack Obama said the vote was a reminder of the need to pass more comprehensive climate change legislation."
"Three teams of scientists studying the flow of oil from the Deepwater Horizon blowout now say the oil released into the Gulf of Mexico ranged from 20,000 barrels a day to a little more than 40,000 barrels a day before the riser pipe was cut off on June 3, U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt said Thursday."
"The town of Grand Bayou, Louisiana, has no streets and no cars, just water and boats. And now the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico threatens the very existence of the Atakapa-Ishak Indians who live there. 'We're facing the potential for cultural genocide,' says one tribe member."
"The EPA, declaring that endosulfan is unsafe for farm workers, moves to ban one of the last organochlorine pesticides left in the United States. Like DDT, endosulfan accumulates in the environment and in the bodies of people and wildlife, and is transported around the world to remote places."
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