Ala. governor mobilizes Guard to educate residents on filing of BP oil spill claims

Ala. Guard mobilized to help with oil spill claims

ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Bob Riley has called out the National Guard to help spread the word among coastal residents that they can apply to BP for oil spill compensation.

Riley said Tuesday at a training session for Guardsmen that fewer than 30 people have applied for lost rental revenue out of 17,000 condominiums in the region.

And he says only 70 applications have been filed be fishing captains even though the state has about 1,000 charter fishing boats.

He says Guardsmen will go through communities for three weeks telling people about the claims process.

The governor says BP has promised to take two days or less to decide on applications.

BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles says BP “has gone well beyond what is required.”