Mobile, Ala. – Today, Governor Robert Bentley announced in a news conference that the State of Alabama has reached an Agreement in Principle to settle with BP for the damages caused by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The news conference was held in Montgomery by Governor Bentley and Attorney General Luther Strange, and confirmed that the landmark agreement is designed to compensate the State for both environmental and economic damages resulting from the oil spill disaster.
According to the settlement announcement, the total value of the Agreement in Principle is approximately $18.5 Billion for all of the affected Gulf states economic losses, the natural resource damages and BP’s Clean Water Act penalties. Alabama’s share of this global agreement is over $2.0 Billion. On the economic side, $1 billion will be paid to the State over the next 18 years for economic damages suffered. On the environmental side, Alabama will receive approximately $1.3 billion over the next 15 years that will be used to facilitate coastal restoration projects in Alabama.
Cunningham Bounds’ attorney Robert T. “Bobo” Cunningham served on the trial team representing individual and business plaintiffs in the liability phase of the BP trial. Cunningham said, "It has been a great privilege over the last five years to work side by side with Attorney General Strange and his excellent staff in bringing BP to justice. He deserves all the credit for this phenomenal and unprecedented settlement on behalf of the people of Alabama. Without his leadership and unwavering dedication to the cause of justice, this settlement would never have occurred."
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has been deemed the worst environmental disaster in United States History. It started on April 20, 2010, about 100 miles off of Alabama’s coast, killing 11 people and causing oil to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. For nearly three months, an estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil flowed into the Gulf. Alabama experienced significant environmental and economic damages as a result of the oil spill.
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