NEW ORLEANS - A minority partner in BP’s blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico agreed yesterday to pay $90 million in a settlement with the federal government and Gulf states over the 2010 oil spill. It includes the largest civil penalty ever recovered under the federal Clean Water Act.
MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC owned 10 percent interest in the Macondo well, about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. The well blew out in April 2010, destroying the BP-leased rig Deepwater Horizon, killing 11 men and resulting in the nation’s worst offshore oil spill.
The agreement, filed in US District Court in New Orleans, calls for MOEX to pay $45 million in civil penalties to the federal government and $25 million to the Gulf states affected by the spill. The company also agreed to pay $20 million for coastal protection projects.
“The Department of Justice has not wavered in its commitment to hold all responsible parties fully accountable for what stands as the largest oil spill in US history,’’ Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. “This landmark settlement is an important step - but only a first step - toward achieving accountability and protecting the future of the Gulf ecosystem by funding critical habitat preservation projects.’’
MOEX is the first company involved in the disaster to settle with the federal government over the spill. The federal government also sued BP, rig owner Transocean Ltd., and another minority partner in the well, Anadarko Petroleum Corp.
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"ROUGH WATERS -- An oil tanker barge collided with another barge early yesterday on the Mississippi River, spilling oil and forcing the closure of a 5-mile stretch. The collision, which tore a large gash in the oil barge, occurred about 50 miles from New Orleans. It was unclear which vessel was at fault (Boston Globe February 18 2012)."
