NEW ORLEANS — Federal agencies have approved nearly $226 million for 18 projects to restore open ocean and marine habitats that were decimated in the Gulf of Mexico by the 2010 BP oil spill.
The projects range from $52.6 million to study deep-sea habitats to $290,000 to find ways to keep sea turtles from swallowing or getting snagged on hooks or tangled in lines set out for miles along reefs. They are described in a 490-page report released Tuesday.
The nonprofit Ocean Conservancy said it’s “the world’s first plan to restore the open ocean and deep-sea environment from a major oil disaster.”
“Ocean Conservancy welcomes this major conservation milestone for the Gulf of Mexico,” CEO Janis Searles Jones said in a news release.
The explosion April 20, 2010, on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers. There are varying estimates on how much oil was released.
According to Ocean Conservancy, the well spewed 210 million gallons of oil before it was capped 87 days later.
A federal judge tasked with determining how much oil went into the Gulf of Mexico for purposes of levying penalties ruled that 4 million barrels of oil — 168 million gallons — was released from the reservoir. Of that, 810,000 barrels of oil — 34 million gallons — was collected without touching the water and so 3.19 million barrels — nearly 134 million gallons — of oil were discharged into the Gulf. The judge said in his ruling that there was no precise way to know how much oil discharged into the Gulf.
The money is from BP’s $8.8 billion settlement for natural resources damage, said NOAA Deepwater Horizon program manager Rachel Sweeney.
