MONTGOMERY-The State of Alabama today joins the states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas and the United States in announcing a settlement to resolve civil claims against BP arising from the April 20, 2010, Macondo well blowout and the massive oil spill that followed in the Gulf of Mexico.
This global settlement resolves the natural resource damage claims under the Oil Pollution Act, civil claims under the Clean Water Act, and the remaining economic damage claims of the five Gulf states and municipalities. Taken together this global resolution of civil claims is worth more than $20 billion.
The settlement for the natural resource damage claims is $8.1 billion (this 
includes $1 billion BP already committed to pay for early restoration) for joint use by the federal and state trustees in restoring injured resources. BP will also pay up to an additional $700 million (some of which is in the form of accrued interest) specifically to address any later-discovered natural resource injuries that were unknown at the time of the agreement and to assist in adaptive management needs. Pursuant to the Oil Pollution Act, the Deepwater Horizon Trustee Council, made up of representatives of the five Gulf states and four federal agencies have published the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Draft Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan (PDARP) and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), which includes a comprehensive assessment of natural resource damages resulting from the oil spill and establishes a plan to restore habitat, improve water quality, replenish and protect coastal and marine resources, and enhance recreational opportunities, among other important goals and specific restoration approaches.
Alabama will receive approximately $296 million for its natural resource damages claims to fund restoration projects in Alabama, with the ability to seek additional funding from nearly $1.6 billion being set aside for Gulf regionwide and open ocean restoration.
The federal Clean Water Act settlement is $5.5 billion (plus interest), 80 percent of which will go to restoration efforts in the Gulf region pursuant to the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States (RESTORE) Act. This is the largest civil penalty in the history of environmental law. From this fund, Alabama will receive approximately $308 million under the Direct Component and approximately $269 million under the Spill Impact Component, as well as $22 million under the Center of Excellence Component. In addition, Alabama will receive a portion of $1.32 billion for projects to be determined by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council.
“Although we believe that the natural resources of our state are priceless, we are pleased with the outcome of this settlement,” said N. Gunter Guy, Jr.,
N. Gunter Guy, Jr., Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. “Rather than expending additional time and resources preparing for trial and various appeals which could take many years, we are able to avoid the uncertainties of litigation and begin using this money now to continue restoring our Gulf coast ecosystems and economies. We are proud to be a part of this historic, Gulf-wide settlement – the largest environmental settlement in both Alabama and the United States as a whole.”
Finally, the State of Alabama will recover $1 billion in damages for the economic losses suffered by the State as a result of the oil spill. When added to the criminal penalty claims awarded to Alabama through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation from plea agreements with BP and Transocean, the total value recovered by the state for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will top $2.3 billion.
The payments for the settlement will be made over time and are backed by parent company guarantees from BP Corporation North America Inc. as the primary guarantor and BP p.l.c. as the secondary guarantor.
MEDIA RELEASE/N. Gunter Guy, Jr., Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
