Restoring the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico resulted in the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

 

The Department of the Interior is playing a major role in many restoration efforts. Two of our largest endeavors are the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment (DWH NRDA) and RESTORE Act implementation. A map of our approved restoration projects funded by these efforts describes each project and shows its location.  

 

The DWH NRDA, conducted by the Trustee Council, determined the nature and extent of injury to our nation’s natural resources caused by the spill, and the kind and amount of restoration needed to restore the Gulf to the condition it would be in if the spill had not occurred.

 

On April 4, 2016, a historic $20.8 billion global settlement agreement with BP was reached. According to the settlement, BP will pay the Trustees up to $8.8 billion for restoration to address injuries to natural resources. These funds will be used to implement the Trustees' Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. 

 

The settlement also includes $5.5 billion in Clean Water Act penalities. As required by the RESTORE Act, 80% of those funds will be directed to Gulf restoration as determined by the RESTORE Council members.