U.S. Gulf states reach record $18.7B settlement with BP over oil spill

British oil giant BP and five U.S. Gulf states announced a record $18.7 billion settlement on Thursday that resolves years of fighting in the courts over the environmental and economic damage from the energy company’s oil spill in 2010. It was one of the worst environmental disasters, and the biggest offshore oil spill, in U.S. history. The settlement involves Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. If accepted by a federal judge, it would end a yearslong battle between BP and the U.S. government over Clean Water Act penalties after a judge ruled that the company was grossly negligent in the spill of nearly 3.19 million barrels of oil.

It would help repair the damage done to the Gulf economy, fisheries, wetlands and wildlife; and it would bring lasting benefits to the Gulf region for generations to come.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch

Studies on 14 different types of creatures affected by the spill found long-lasting harm to dolphins, sea turtles, tuna, loons and other animals in the region. Around 2 million barrels of oil are believed to have settled on the ocean floor, according to a study released last year that found that the oil had spread as far as 1,235 square miles from the well site. BP pleaded guilty in 2013 to 11 counts of felony manslaughter in a $4.5 billion deal to settle criminal charges.

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