NEW ORLEANS -- A federal judge has given final approval to BP's settlement with a bulk of businesses and individuals who lost money because of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to an Associated Press report.
BP PLC has estimated it will pay $7.8 billion to resolve economic and medical claims from more than 100,000 businesses and individuals hurt by the nation's worst offshore oil spill. The settlement has no cap; the company could end up paying more or less, according to the report.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who gave his preliminary approval in May, made it final in a 125-page ruling released this past week.
"None of the objections, whether filed on the objections docket or elsewhere, have shown the settlement to be anything other than fair, reasonable and adequate," he wrote.
After Barbier's preliminary approval in May, thousands of people opted out of the settlement to pursue their cases individually, AP reports. More than 1,700 changed their minds and asked to be added back in by a Dec. 15 deadline, Barbier said.
BP and attorneys for the plaintiffs who were part of the settlement said they were pleased.
"We believe the settlement, which avoids years of lengthy litigation, is good for the people, businesses and communities of the gulf and is in the best interests of BP's stakeholders," company spokesman Scott Dean said in a statement to AP. "Today's decision by the court is another important step forward for BP in meeting its commitment to economic and environmental restoration efforts in the gulf and in eliminating legal risk facing the company."
A statement from plaintiffs' attorneys Steve Herman and Jim Roy praised the settlement program's administrator, Pat Juneau.
"This settlement has--and will continue to--bring the people and businesses of the gulf the relief they deserve," the attorneys wrote.
The April 2010 blowout of BP's Macondo well triggered an explosion that killed 11 rig workers and spewed out more than 200 million gallons of oil, closing much of the gulf for months to commercial and recreational fishing and shrimping.
There is still a lot of litigation left, including a trial to identify the causes of BP's blowout and assign percentages of fault to the companies involved, Barbier wrote. That trial is scheduled next year.
The recent agreement covers people and businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and some coastal counties in eastern Texas and western Florida, and in adjacent Gulf waters and bays.
"This is a positive development, but my focus remains on holding BP and the other defendants accountable for the extraordinary economic and environmental damage inflicted on Alabama," said Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange in a statement. "I look forward to going to trial in February."
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