BP TO PAY $20.8 BILLION IN FINAL SETTLEMENT

摘要

The U.S. Justice Department said recently that BP would pay $20.8 billion in civil penalties and damages to the federal government and five Gulf of Mexico states. The final Deepwater Horizon disaster settlement increased by $2 billion from negotiations in July. The agreement includes $5.5 billion in Clean Water Act penalties plus interest, "the largest civil penalty in the history of environmental law," with 80% earmarked for restoration efforts along the Gulf Coast, Justice Department officials said in a statement. The company will pay $8.1 billion in natural resource damages, and provide up to $700 million more for any as yet undiscovered damages. BP has estimated its total costs at $54 billion from the 2010 Macondo well blowout that killed 11 workers and spilled oil for 87 days. "BP is receiving the punishment it deserves, while also providing critical compensation for the injuries it caused to the environment and the economy of the Gulf region," Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said in announcing the settlement Oct. 5. "The steep penalty should inspire BP and its peers to take every measure necessary to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again."