LOUISIANA — August 17, 2012 — Louisiana lawmakers and environmental advocates are teaming up to ensure that hard-won oil spill fine money will be used for coastal restoration projects.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use billions to fix our coast,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Metairie. “Louisiana has gotten big windfalls of money and too many times squandered it. We’ve got to make sure we use this the right way.”
Passed by Congress in July after a year-long fight, the Restore Act will dedicate 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the 2010 BP oil spill to five Gulf Coast states.
Under the Clean Water Act, BP can be fined from $1,000 to $4,300 per barrel leaked after the deadly explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. That could add up to fines of between $5 billion and $20 billion.
Louisiana could receive as much as 30 to 40 percent of that money. That’s because in addition to the money that will be directly dedicated to the state, Louisiana is expected to receive a large share of fines based on oil-spill impacts and ecosystem restoration.
Scalise is partnering with top coastal restoration advocates in the state to ensure that Restore Act dollars are spent directly on coastal restoration projects and not squandered on pet projects. They have formed a group called the Restore Coalition.
Read the full story at the Daily Comet.