6th Oct 2015 05:23
WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - Oil company BP PLC completed a USD20.8 billion agreement Monday with the US government and states on the Gulf of Mexico to settle claims over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The US Justice Department said the resolution - which includes federal civil environmental damages and economic damages for the five states and hundreds of local governments from Texas to Florida - is the largest settlement with a single company in the department's history.
"This historic resolution is a strong and fitting response to the worst environmental disaster in American history," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. "BP is receiving the punishment it deserves while also providing critical compensation for the injuries it caused to the environment and the economy of the gulf region."
The Deepwater Horizon disaster was the largest offshore oil spill in US history. More than 3 million barrels of oil were estimated to have spilled from the sea floor during the 87 days after an April 20, 2010, oil rig explosion that killed 11 crew members.
"The gulf was flooded with oil, and the Gulf coast way of life - a uniquely American way of life - was hanging by a thread," Lynch said.
"By the time the torrent stopped, it had inflicted unprecedented harm on the economy, the environment and the population of the Gulf region. Ecosystems were disrupted, businesses were shuttered, and countless men and women lost their livelihoods and their sense of security."
The deal finalizes an agreement first announced in July. The initial amount of 18.7 billion dollars was increased under the agreement announced Monday by more than 2 billion dollars.
Bob Dudley, BP's group chief executive, said in July that the settlement provides clarity and certainty for all parties and gives states and other parties a "significant income stream" for restoration of natural resources and other losses related to the spill.
"For BP, this agreement will resolve the largest liabilities remaining from the tragic accident and enable BP to focus on safely delivering the energy the world needs," he said.
The BP agreement, which will be paid out over time, includes:
- 5.5 billion dollars in federal Clean Water Act penalties plus interest, much of which is earmarked for gulf restoration efforts.
- 8.1 billion dollars in natural resource damages, plus 700 million dollars for any later-discovered natural resource damage, to be spent on habitat restoration.
- 600 million dollars for claims including state and federal government investigation and assessment costs.
- 4.9 billion dollars to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, and up to 1 billion dollars to several hundred local governments for economic damages due to the spill.
Separately, BP has faced a huge array of lawsuits and other costs arising from the Deepwater Horizon. In July, the company said it had already made payments totaling 43.8 billion dollars for claims linked to the disaster.
Copyright dpa
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