British oil company BP will pay 20.8 billion dollars in damages for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, reports The Guardian. The deal between the U.S. authorities and BP was finally approved by the court on Monday, April 4.
As noted in the American Ministry of justice, this is a record amount of compensation recovered from the same company, and the largest payment in the history of the country related to pollution. The penalty must cover the claims of the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Texas, and will go towards clean water and restoring natural resources.
The company is obligated to pay the full amount for 16 years. In total, BP estimates its losses in connection with the accident at $ 53 billion.
The U.S. government filed a motion in Federal court in New Orleans in late 2014 with a request to fine BP for the accident in the Gulf of Mexico on 16-18 billion dollars. In September 2014, judge Carl Barbier recognized BP guilty of negligence and held that it lies 67 percent liable for the accident. Another 30 percent, according to the verdict lies with Swiss company Transocean, which owned the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, and 3 percent for American Halliburton, which was the proper way to cement an oil well.
The accident at the oil platform Deepwater Horizon occurred in April 2010. The explosion killed 11 people, in the sea has poured out about 5 million barrels of oil. It was the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. Due to the gigantic losses incurred as a result of the accident, BP was forced to sell assets around the world.
