Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Wed, June 16, 2010 -- 11:58 AM ET
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BP Agrees to Place About $20 Billion in Escrow for Spill Claims
The White House and top executives of the energy giant BP have tentatively agreed that the oil company will pay about $20 billion over several years into an independently controlled fund to pay compensation to people and businesses harmed by the immense oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The fund would be overseen by Kenneth Feinberg, the prominent lawyer who ran the compensation fund for victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks and is the government's special master for
executive pay under the TARP program. President Obama
demanded the creation of such a fund in his national address about the oil spill Tuesday evening, and met with company executives at the White House on Wednesday.