MOEX settlement for oil spill to go into Pollution Emergency Fund

by Associated Press

Published: February 22,2012

Tags: courts, disaster, energy, environment, explosion, gas, habitat, hospitality, lawsuit, natural gas, offshore drilling, Oil, oil rig, oil spill, petroleum, pollution, restaurants, seafood, settlement, state government, tourism, tourists, visitors, wildlife

MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST — Mississippi’s share of a settlement from a minority partner in BP’s blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico will go into the state’s Pollution Emergency Fund.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality supervises the fund.

Attorney General Jim Hood said in a news release yesterday that MOEX Offshore will spend another $5 million in Mississippi on coastal protection projects.

The agreement, filed last week in federal 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 in those Gulf states.