In Deep Waters

BP To Pay $7.8 Billion Settlement

Environment – BP and the lawyers for plaintiffs in the trial over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon fiasco in the Gulf of Mexico have reached a settlement, and they are expected to pay out a whopping $7.8 billion in claims.

Judge Carl J. Barbier of Federal District Court in New Orleans issued an order late Friday night stating that the two sides “have reached an agreement on the terms of a proposed class settlement which will be submitted to the court.”

He also articulated that the first phase of the trial, which had been scheduled to start this Monday, is on hold indefinitely.

BP issued a statement from the company’s chief executive, Robert Dudley, saying, “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.”

The oil titan’s payout comes in addition to the $14 billion it has spent cleaning up the spill.

BP’s bill does not end here, though. The current agreement does not encompass the largest plaintiff in the case against BP: the federal government. In addition to the lawsuit, the government expects to collect billions of dollars in environmental fines.

In April 2010, the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 rig workers and bore an oil spill that for months allowed millions of barrels of oil to leak into the Gulf of Mexico, destroying beaches and killing wildlife.

Read more at the New York Times.