December 9, 2024 — Federal officials have proposed spending $210 million for 10 projects aimed at restoring fisheries, sea turtles and invertebrate species — including shrimp, crabs, reef coral and shellfish — that were damaged during the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in open water areas of the Gulf of Mexico.
The money comes from an $8.8 billion settlement that BP entered into with the federal government and Gulf Coast states in 2016 to try to remediate some of the extensive damage. The settlement set aside $1.2 billion to restore the Gulf’s open water areas, which is what the new draft restoration plan aims to do.
It is the fourth plan by federal trustees to target open ocean resources damaged by the spill. The three previous plans included $421 million for a variety of projects to restore marine mammals, birds, coral reefs and more. Other settlement funds are reserved for projects within the five Gulf Coast states and for projects affecting the entire region.
The new plan includes six projects aimed at restoring fish and invertebrates that live in the Gulf’s water column, and four to help restore sea turtles.