BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill damage valued at $17.2bn

Bloomberg

BP Plc’s 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill caused damage to beaches, animals, fish and coral that the public values at $17.2 billion, according to a financial accounting released on the seventh anniversary of the disaster.
The tally, published in the journal Science, is based on a survey of thousands of Americans that asked what they’d be willing to pay to prevent the kind of impacts unleashed by the spill, which began with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20, 2010.
The worst oil spill in US history killed 11 rig workers, spewed 134 million gallons of crude, soiling birds and marine life across
the Gulf. BP, which contracted
the rig, was forced to sell off billions of dollars in assets to pay for damages.
The latest study, ordered by the U.S. government, is the most comprehensive attempt yet to put a value on the environmental losses, said Kevin Boyle, one of the lead researchers.
“The results were eye-opening,” Boyle, an agricultural economist at Virginia Tech University, said in a statement from the school.
“People value our natural resources, so it’s worth taking
major actions to prevent future catastrophes and correct past mistakes.” Brett Clanton, a Houston-based spokesman for BP, didn’t respond to phone messages seeking comment.