AmericasEnvironmentOffshore

Judge grants final approval to BP’s civil settlement over Deepwater Horizon disaster

A US federal judge on Monday granted final approval to BP’s $18.7bn civil settlement over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, according to Reuters.

The deal had been reached with the US Department of Justice and the affected Gulf Coast states back in July 2015. It comprises penalties under the Clean Water Act and for environmental damage.

US District Court judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Carl Barbier, who granted this approval, has presided over several cases relating to the tragedy.

The disaster happened on April 20, 2010 when BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig at the Macondo Prospect in the US Gulf of Mexico exploded.

It cost the lives of 11 people and was followed by a prolonged oil spill before the sea-floor well could be capped. The spill lasted 87 days in which an estimated 134 million gallons of oil gushed into the Gulf.

The payments in this settlement will be staggered over a 16-to-18-year period.

Last month Judge Barbier ruled that BP could not be held liable for losses incurred by energy and drilling firms when US authorities ordered the suspension of drilling in the wake of the disaster.

Donal Scully

With 28 years experience writing and editing for newspapers in the UK and Hong Kong, Donal is now based in California from where he covers the Americas for Splash as well as ensuring the site is loaded through the Western Hemisphere timezone.
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