The state will provide $12 million in “emergency restoration funding” for coastal residents afflicted by the Deepwater Horizon disaster, according to a news release.
Gov. Bobby Jindal announced the funding Tuesday, saying the state is “not waiting” for BP, the oil giant that owned the rig which exploded and leaked oil into the Gulf of Mexico this past summer.
Jindal reprimanded BP for refusing to pay restoration costs.
“During the response to the oil spill … we were promised resources and assistance that always seemed to be too little, too late,” Jindal said in the release. “Today, we are again here to take our own action and not let more of our oystermen, fishermen, families, communities or businesses suffer as we wait for BP to act.”
Jindal made the announcement along with a host of governmental authorities at the Governor’s Mansion, including five parish presidents and the mayors of two coastal cities.
He was also joined by the state director of the National Wildlife Federation, David Muth.
“The National Wildlife Federation supports efforts to jumpstart restoration initiatives that directly remediate damages from the BP oil spill,” Muth said in the release.
Jindal said he hopes the funds, which are drawn from a number of accounts, will be reimbursed by BP.
“We expect all $12 million to be replenished by BP as soon as they ‘make it right’ with our coastal communities by fully
covering losses from this tragic spill,” he said, referencing promises by BP officials that the company will pay for damages.
Jindal’s announcement comes the day after the issuance of the first deepwater drilling permit in the Gulf. The Obama administration placed a moratorium on such drilling in the spill’s wake.
 
—-
Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]