Long, uncertain path ahead for Gulf restoration after oil spill

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/11/177095/long-uncertain-path-ahead-for.html



In the coming years, unprecedented billions will be spent on restoration of an ecosystem damaged by one of the most catastrophic oil spills in U.S. history. Here, a finished portion of the Lake Hermitage Marsh Creation Project site.

Long, uncertain path ahead for Gulf restoration after oil spill
By Erika Bolstad | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2012

WASHINGTON — In the coming years, unprecedented billions will be spent on restoration in the Gulf of Mexico, a vital American ecosystem damaged by the most catastrophic oil spill in U.S. history.

Gulf states, especially Louisiana, will see billions of dollars devoted to restoring habitat and coastline hurt not just by the 2010 BP oil spill, but also by decades of oil and gas exploration, U.S. agricultural practices and the management of the Mississippi and the rivers that drain into it on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

There’s $5 billion for restoration and research so far, with at least $5 billion more – and the possibility of $20 billion – from money BP might have to pay in civil fines, depending on the outcome of a trial set for early next year. It’s a vast amount of money so large – and with so much potential – that one environmentalist called it "funny money."



With that money – funny or not – comes much hope. But those who live and work in the Gulf of Mexico also are wary, as are the environmental groups keeping watch on the post-oil spill environment.


Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/11/177095/long-uncertain-path-ahead-for.html#storylink=cpy