While a judge must approve the historic $18.7 billion settlement reached July 2, the United States and the five Gulf States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas have agreed to the settlement, along with BP.
"The federal government and Gulf Coast states announced a record-setting $18.7 billion settlement with BP on Thursday that resolves years of litigation over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill and delivers the largest environmental settlement ever," writes Rick Jervis of USA TODAY. "BP was leasing the Deepwater Horizon rig in April 2010 when it exploded and sank off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 crewmen and releasing some 200 million gallons of crude into the Gulf."
The BP spill is considered to be the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Before April 20, 2010, the March 24, 1989 oil spill from the grounded Exxon Valdez in Alaska was thought to be the most devastating. The ship spilled 11 to 38 million US gallons, according to Wikipedia.
The New York Times breaks down the settlement sums:
- $5.5 billion paid to the federal government "a civil penalty of $5.5 billion under the Clean Water Act over a 15-year time frame."
- $7.1 billion paid to the gulf "under the Natural Resource Damage Assessment which is meant to compensate for direct environmental harm caused by the spill."
- $5 billion of the settlement "would arise from economic damage claims made by the states. But those claims are only a part of what the states would be getting."
- $1 billion for local government claims
The settlement is in addition to $4 billion in criminal fines BP had agreed to in 2012, approved by a federal judge in January 2013.
The timing of the settlement was crucial as the civil penalty could have been far greater had BP waited, explains Tony Dokoupil of msnbc.
The announcement came unexpectedly, just three days after the Supreme Court declined to hear BP’s appeal in an earlier case. That decision set BP up for as much as a $13.7 billion fine under the Clean Water Act alone.
"The settlement still must be approved by United States District Court Judge Carl J. Barbier in New Orleans, who oversaw a tremendously complex two-year civil trial concerning the spill, according to The Times.
FULL STORY: Gulf states reach $18.7 billion settlement with BP over 2010 oil spill
President Trump Signs Executive Order to Reverse Obama's Coastal Drilling Ban
So much for that so-called "permanent" ban that President Obama enacted by President Obama in December to end oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean and off the central-northern Atlantic coast.
Don't Let Time Dilute Outrage Over BP Gulf Spill
Just because our media-ravenous culture inundates us with more news than we can stomach doesn't mean we should give up on the long term prospects of the BP catastrophe. As the poorly secured well beneath the exploded BP rig Deepwater Horizon continues its high-pressure torrent of not-yet-quantified-but-something-in-the-order-of-tens-to-hundreds-of-thousand-of-gallons-per-day of oil into the gorgeous waters of the Gulf of Mexico, we must not let the drone of time allow us lose sight of the result of horrendous and unforgivable destruction, weak industrial controls, and even weaker environmental morals. We must also not ignore that efforts to “contain” the spill were devised simultaneously with an effort to spare the well.
Did the Supreme Court Gut Federal Power?
The Supreme Court limited the EPA's power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Some commentators believe that this decision will virtually eliminate EPA power—but the decision is too ambiguous to support such a clear conclusion.
Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?
Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions
An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.
What Happens if Trump Kills Section 8?
The Trump admin aims to slash federal rental aid by nearly half and shift distribution to states. Experts warn this could spike homelessness and destabilize communities nationwide.
Sean Duffy Targets Rainbow Crosswalks in Road Safety Efforts
Despite evidence that colorful crosswalks actually improve intersection safety — and the lack of almost any crosswalks at all on the nation’s most dangerous arterial roads — U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy is calling on states to remove them.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie