U.S.: BP reaches massive settlement with Gulf of Mexico investors
- $7.8B will be paid by BP to thousands affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that occurred in April 2010; the settlement doesn’t bring an end to the oil company’s legal troubles
- $2.3B of the total settlement will go to the Gulf seafood industry alone; the company also faces separate spill-related legal actions from the governments of Louisiana and Alabama
- $17B in additional fines could come as the result of a settlement with the US government over civilian fines resulting from the wide-reaching spill, if BP is found guilty of gross negligence source
- » But are the fines enough to teach BP a lesson? Some say no, including shrimp producer Dean Blanchard, who told The Guardian, “I want my day in court. If they can get off with just paying the money — well, they’ve got plenty of money, they are not really going to learn a lesson.” In addition to the settlement, BP announced that it would use the remainder of the $20 billion compensation fund it raised during the summer of 2010 to settle additional complaints from residents and businesses in the region. In a statement released late Friday night, BP chief executive Bob Dudley said, “the proposed settlement represents significant progress toward resolving issues from the Deepwater Horizon accident and contributing further to economic and environmental restoration efforts along the Gulf Coast.”
