Sunday, February 26, 2012

BP oil spill trial delayed

 @CNNMoney February 26, 2012: 6:06 PM ET


It's been nearly two years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, but the legal battle over the spill is just beginning, with the civil trial to determine liability set for Monday.
The Deepwater Horizon disaster claimed 11 lives.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- As settlement talks continue, the high-profile legal battle over the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that was scheduled to begin Monday has been delayed a week.

The trial, which is scheduled to take place in Louisiana federal court, is to determine civil liability for the April 2010 oil spill, the worst in U.S. history. Among the defendants are BP (BP), the well operator and majority shareholder in the venture, rig-owner Transocean (RIG), construction contractor Halliburton (HALFortune 500) and other firms associated with the project. Among the thousands of plaintiffs are fishermen, hotel owners and other Gulf Coast residents.

Initially set for Monday, the trial has been postponed until March 5 in order to continue settlement talks, according to a joint statement from BP and the Plaintiff's Steering Committee. Although the parties said there "can be no assurance that these discussions will lead to a settlement agreement."

An order by U.S. District Court Judge Barbier says he issued the delay "to allow the parties to make further progress in their settlement discussions." The Justice Department had no comment on the delay Sunday.
Even with trial proceedings looming, settlement negotiations among the various parties have been proceeding "fast and furious," said Edward Sherman, a professor at Tulane Law School in Louisiana.
BP CEO Bob Dudley told CNN this month that the company was still open to settling the matter out of court, but was "vigorously preparing for the trial." BP has roughly $37 billion set aside for costs associated with the spill following its own settlement with Anadarko Petroleum Co. last year, Dudley added.

In October, Anadarko (APCFortune 500) agreed to pay BP $4 billion to settle claims related to the spill. Anadarko owned a 25% stake in the ill-fated well, and as such was responsible for a quarter of all associated costs.
In 2010, BP set up a fund known as the Gulf Coast Claims Facility for which it earmarked $20 billion in settlement money to be distributed to victims of the spill. The GCCF has dealt with over 570,000 claimants thus far, but has paid out just $6 billion, with many victims still holding out for the trial.
Should the case go to trial, the final payouts that BP and the other firms involved will owe in civil penalties and to the victims are still largely an open question. BP could end up paying roughly $17 billion in civil penalties alone, to go along with the tens of billions more that it will likely owe the victims, said Sherman.
"It's a very complex case, because it involves not only so much money but so many parties and so many different legal theories," said Sherman.
Hundreds of pre-trial motions have already been filed, and Judge Carl Barbier has ordered that the case be broken down into three phases.
The first phase will focus on responsibility for the accident itself, while the second will address efforts to contain the spill and the exact quantity of oil released, which plays a role in determining the civil penalties owed by the companies involved. The third phase will address the response to the disaster and the clean-up effort.
How long the case will take to resolve is anybody's guess; Pavel Molchanov, an energy analyst at Raymond James, said the case could stretch into 2014 before any appeals are taken into account.
With the sheer numbers of parties involved, Molchanov said reaching a single, over arching settlement was unlikely. No criminal charges have yet been filed, though that too could change.
"It's going to be a very long process," Molchanov said. To top of page

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Consolidation of email notifications now on Blog page


BEMA Network members (All):

In order to reduce the number of emails to each of you, we will begin consolidating subject headings of important items and posting on our BEMA Blog page for you to review.   As information is posted to our Blog page it is also forwarded to our Facebook, and sent to our Twitter account for notification to our followers.

No personal information is captured when accessing this information except in the case of messages forwarded by Twitter accounts.  

Over 90% of the training or workshops are in the Washington, D.C. area, all other member locations with these same opportunities can have notices posted from your area on our Blog pages.

Please contact me directly to have your local area information included.

Charles



Charles D. Sharp
Emergency Manager
Senior Advisor
Black Emergency Managers Association                           

Looking for an Accountant

Looking for an Accountant

Nobody is as adept in tracking monetary records and taking care of them as an accountant. Handling finances is just one of the job of an accountant because they are also hired for many things like tax preparation. There are certainly many accountants here and there, and deciding whom to choose would be a huge dilemma. If one knows the proper way to look for an accountant, a problem such as that wouldn’t be large trouble after all.

Where To Find

“Where to find an accountant?” that would be the most obvious question when searching for an accountant. One might start the search on phone directories. One should look on phone directories first because several local accountants would use it as a way to look for clients.

The Internet is also a good place to look for an accountant. However, if you compare looking for an accountant over the web and with the help of phone directories, the former is better. Anyone can easily access the internet while yellow pages directories is actually a historic item that’s difficult to find in any household or establishment.

What They Tell You

Perhaps the best way to find that ideal accountant would be from the personal recommendations of close individuals. These recommendations might come from your friend, relative or any person you know and is close to you.

If a person did not ever hire the services of the accountant, then you should better ignore his or her recommendation.

Look for The Qualities

The ideal accountant must always have the necessary qualifications set or required in an accountant. Being qualified to take on a job will assure clients that they have the best services without any worries or problems. What would make an accountant qualified for the job?

Education of the accountant. Certification. Accounting experience. Area or specialty in accounting.   Accounting services.  Price to pay

Guardian Accord Workshop


The purpose of the Guardian Accord (GA) Workshop is to increase awareness of Federal, State, territorial, tribal and local government jurisdictions, and the private sector, about the importance of incorporating the specific risks of terrorism into continuity planning.  

This workshop consists of facilitator lead discussion, group breakouts, and concludes with a tabletop.  

The participants should already understand continuity of operations principles and have already developed or be familiar with continuity of operations plans and programs.

Date: Thursday, March 15, 2012

Time: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm EST

Location:  Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), 1401 H Street NW, Conference Room 6084, A and B, Washington, DC 20005

Request for Registration Deadline: Friday, March 9, 2012

 Please read entire Training Announcement for more details.

 If you would like to attend, please send an email to fema-continuity-practitioner@fema.dhs.gov to reserve a seat. 

Please bring a FEMA Form 119-25-1 (formerly 75-5) (General Admission Application, August 2010 version) to the Lead Facilitator on the day of the course.     

Leave the course number section blankFEMA Form 75-5 can be downloaded at http://training.fema.gov/Apply/119-25-1%20Previously%20FF75-5.pdf







Seating is limited to 30.

 

 

Engagement Opportunities for Private and Nonprofit Sectors

Presidential Policy Directive 8 / PPD-8:
National Preparedness
Engagement Opportunities for Private and Nonprofit Sectors

“FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.” March Webinar and In-Person Workshop Series Available – RSVP Now!

FEMA and its partners want to know what businesses and nonprofit groups think about a series of new documents related to how the private sector plays a role in national preparedness.

These documents are called “National Frameworks,” and they are part of Presidential Policy Directive 8 / PPD-8: National Preparedness.

The directive asks the whole community—including businesses, community- and faith-based organizations, schools, individuals and all levels of government—to work together to strengthen the resilience and security of the United States.

Together, the five National Frameworks will clearly define key preparedness roles and responsibilities for all whole community partners. The National Disaster Recovery Framework was released in September 2011. The focus is now on revising the National Response Framework and developing the Prevention, Protection and Mitigation Frameworks.

We are hosting webinars and in-person workshops for people to provide their thoughts on the private sector and nonprofit roles and responsibilities identified in the working draft Frameworks. We’re interested in validating content, identifying gaps and discussing new ideas. Framework authors will be on hand during the events to provide background information and answer questions. All feedback will be considered when revising and finalizing the working draft Frameworks.

Registration

Please choose the workshop(s) of interest to you. Due to space limitations, pre-registration is required. Information on the draft Frameworks will be made available prior to the workshop.

Registration is on a first come, first serve basis.

To register, please visit http://ppd8.vjpo.org  and click “PPD-8 Engagement Opportunities.”

If you require disability related accommodations to participate in this meeting, please provide details in the Needed Accommodations field on the registration page or contact us at PPD8-Engagement@fema.dhs.gov, or at 202-646-4001 via telephone, 711 or video relay.


WEBINARS (Maximum Participants: 100 per session)

•March 7 from 4 to 6 p.m.: Prevention Framework
•March 12 from noon to 2 p.m.: Mitigation Framework
•March 14 from 5 to 7 p.m.: Protection Framework
•March 21 from 4 to 6 p.m.: Response Framework

Agenda

Each webinar will last two hours and follow the same agenda, listed below.
•15 minutes – Introduction
•90 minutes – Discussion
•15 minutes – Closeout and Next Steps

*ALL WEBINARS WILL BEGIN PROMPTLY ON THE HOUR.
IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS


(Maximum Participants: 50 per session)
•March 5 in Arlington, VA
•March 16 in Atlanta, GA
•March 20 West Coast – Location To Be Announced
•March 22 in Chicago, IL

Upon registration, further details about location and meeting logistics will be provided.
Agenda

Each in-person workshop will follow the same structure and agenda, listed below.
•9:00 – 9:20 Welcome and Introductions
•9:20 – 9:40 PPD-8 Frameworks Overview
•9:40 – 9:50 Break
•9:50 – 12:30 Private Sector / Non-Profit Sector Facilitated Discussion by Framework
•12:30 – 1:00 Summary and Next Steps

OTHER ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Private and nonprofit sectors can also engage in the following ways:
• Visit www.fema.ideascale.com (Click on PPD-8 in the left to share ideas)
• Participate in National Disaster Recovery Framework Stakeholder Events: http://www.fema.gov/recoveryframework (Click on Engagement)
• Learn more about PPD-8, visit www.fema.gov/ppd8

RECOMMENDED READING LIST

Search This Blog

ARCHIVE List 2011 - Present