Louisiana – Carol Terrebonne, a wholesale retailer who buys shrimp off the boats in southern Louisiana, laughs when asked about the $5,000 hardship payout she has received from energy giant BP to cushion the economic impact of the Gulf oil spill.
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"It barely pays the power bill. I have two facilities and they have ice machines and cold storage," she said in her cramped roadside office, seated beneath pictures of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
As of Sunday, BP said 26,000 claims had been filed by commercial fishermen, angling guides and others who say they have lost income because of the six-week-old spill, which the White House says is probably the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history.
Of those claims, 11,650 had been paid for a total of $35 million. Analysts say the British-based company, whose reputation and market value have been battered by the spill, faces billions of dollars in cleanup costs and damages claims.
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