WBRZ - Baton Rouge

Attorney General Buddy Caldwell turned to the courts Friday to get BP to cooperate with the state. Some agencies have needed access to BP's oil spill claims database for more than a month.

The state said it wants to see the information for several reasons. The main one is to make sure BP is keeping its promise to support the communities sinking because of this spill.

"We have significant concerns on behalf of our communities that business, number one, can't stay open because they haven't been paid and can't afford to keep people on payroll and that individuals are on the brink of not being able to feed their families and pay their rent," Kristy Nichols, Secretary of the Department of Social Services, said.

The Louisiana Workforce Commission said there are jobs for those who have been put out of work by the oil. The Department of Social Services needs to know who needs those jobs or money in the meantime.

"All along we asked for what was reasonable, get us good reports, get us a robust data system so we can analyze it, get us what we need to make sure that our citizens are being served," said Nichols. "They've not done that. They've not acknowledged those requests, and I don't think that's reasonable."

"We're not looking for a fight, we're looking for data. All BP has to do is give us the information, and then we can move," Executive Director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission said.

To date, BP reports it's paid $84 million in loss-of-income claims, and a second round of payments are headed to mailboxes across the coast. BP agreed Friday afternoon by e-mail to release more details about those claims on Monday.

BP did not return a phone call from News 2 for comment on this story.