Plaquemines Parish has reached a $45 million settlement with BP over damages from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil spill, The Associated Press reports.
Parish President Amos Cormier will hold a news conference today to discuss the settlement, how it was achieved and how the money will be used.
The parish’s local government was one of the few that decided not to take part in a $20 billion settlement over economic and environmental damage between BP and state, federal and local governments. Plaquemines opted out of the settlement in 2015 without disclosing how much money it was to receive.
The Deepwater Horizon blast killed 11 workers and resulted in millions of gallons of oil spewing into the gulf for 87 days. Plaquemines Parish, a center of offshore oil and gas activity and businesses related to recreational fishing, was one of the hardest hit areas—affected by disruption of fisheries and a months-long moratorium on deepwater drilling that followed the spill.
Last year, BP announced it expects costs arising from the spill to total $61.6 billion, or about $44 billion after tax deductions. That includes response, cleanup, and various settlements and criminal and civil penalties.
