by Tejas Mehta
23 August 2010
Independent administrator Kenneth Feinberg will today take over the task of distributing the $20 billion fund that BP has set aside to compensate victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. He has said he will approve compensation claims by relying on precedents set by state and federal law to determine who is entitled to what. Feinberg says he will offer oil spill victims a sum equal to or better than the compensation a protracted legal battle with BP would give them. He is used to dealing with compensation for sensitive issues, as he was the special master for the claim fund set up after September 11.