The BP oil spill from 2010 is still having reproductions on the coasts of the states that it effected, Louisiana, suffered the most damage in the spill, it took a direct hit from the BP disaster, oil choked off vegetation that is critical to holding together what land is left. The damage is still visible: Tar balls still wash up on its barrier islands while wildlife and fisheries suffered. Fourchon Beach, a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, is an example. It now consists of a narrow strip held together by vegetation. Some $25 billion is headed to the Gulf states that were devastated in this oil disaster. Just a fraction of the government fines and court settlements have been paid — but not all of it will end up repairing the damaged ecosystem, unfortunately. The states are receiving the money from several settlements: There is the big $20 billion civil settlement between the federal government, states and BP. There are also criminal settlements topping $4 billion. Those deals have more oversight than cleanup payments and economic damage claims BP paid directly to states and municipalities. However, some of these funds are being used for other projects. In Biloxi, Miss., the money has been steered to build a baseball stadium. In Louisiana, it was also used to plug a $200 million budget hole, and in Alabama, it was used to repair the state-owned governor's beach mansion. Counties in the Florida Panhandle are worried that the Legislature may loot their oil spill recovery funds. One project in Alabama is generating the most controversy — a beach lodge at a state park using $58 million set aside to restore natural resources. The beach lodge was not there during the oil spill in 2010, but had been destroyed by Hurricane Ivan six years earlier.
This is very manipulative of the state legislature, and I hope that they realize that these dollars are specifically for the restoration of the environment. I think that there are a lot of things that the government hide, and through out history we can see through the many scandals that people will do a almost anything for money.
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