Gulf Oil Spill Litigation Ends With $20B Settlement

Years of civil litigation filed against BP regarding the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill will come to a close, after a federal judge granted final approval to a $20 billion settlement. The money will be paid out over about 16 years, with $45.5 billion in civil Clean Water Act penalties, and billions more to state and local governments. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier earlier found BP “grossly negligent” in the explosion of an offshore rig that caused 11 deaths and spilled 134 million gallons of oil. BP estimated it will pay more than $53 billion total on initial cleanup work and settling various criminal and civil penalties.