Gulf states reach record-setting settlement with BP in 2010 oil spill

BP and five Gulf states announced a record $18.7 billion settlement Thursday that resolves years of legal fighting over the environmental and economic damage done by the energy giant’s oil spill in 2010.

The settlement, if accepted by a federal judge, would end a yearslong battle between BP and the U.S. government over Clean Water Act penalties after a judge ruled the company was grossly negligent in the nearly 134 million gallon spill.

It would resolve the states’ natural resources damage claims and settle economic claims involving state and local governments in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, according to an outline filed in federal court.

“If approved by the court, this settlement would be the largest settlement with a single entity in American history; 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,” U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement.

The settlement will likely mark the end of major litigation against BP, following the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. When the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in April 2010, it killed 11 people on board and spread miles of black oil across the Gulf Coast before the underwater well was capped a few months later.

Governors and attorneys general from four of the five states to receive money from the settlement announced it during simultaneous news conferences Thursday morning just as the court filings were made public.