[StBernard] Murphy Oil Spill Claim Deadline

[Westley Annis]

This is true, and Murphy is actually encouraging people to opt back in.  
They said the more participation they get, the more the judge is likely to 
approve the settlement.  I have property in the buyout and outside of the 
buyout they said I had to opt back in on all property just like I had to opt

out on all property.  They look at it as you are either in the class, or 
out.  They want as many people as possible to be in.  Some people that did 
not opt out and did not settle are angry with this.  They feel that if 
others are not allowed to opt back in, then they will get more money.  This 
would be true if the money were to be divided equally amoung all in the 
class, but this is not how the settlement is structured.  The settlement is 
for a flat amount per property in some zones and a square footage amount in 
other zones.  And the square footage amount is different depending on what 
zone you lived in because the contamination and damages in some areas was 
greater than other areas. People that did opt out will not get paid twice, 
they will only get the difference from what the settlement is and what they 
were already paid. I went to a meeting on this on Wed. with the company 
handling the disbursement of the settlement.  It got pretty rowdy in there.

I made sure I knew where the exit was!

Laurie