Jackson got Deepwater Horizon payment
Jackson has netted $958,000 from a Deepwater Horizon claim although the city was more than 150 miles from where any oil washed ashore.
The city's claim isn't part of the $1.5 billion the state is receiving from the BP oil spill settlement. Jackson officials said recently they hope some of the state's settlement will go to the city to help with the $400 million federal consent decree the city is under for improvements to wastewater treatment plants.
The total the city received was $1.3 million, with approximately $958,000 left after attorney fees.
"We haven't earmarked it, but we need as much savings as possible," said City Council President Melvin Priester Jr. "We haven't made any determination about how to spend it, but we really have no fluff in our budget. ... Right now, we are just happy to have it as a small cushion for a very lean budget."
Trivia Jones, the city's director of administration, said the money was placed in the general fund budget, but isn't earmarked for any specific use at this time.
BP recently finished making approximately $687.4 million in settlement payments to 383 local government entities in the five Gulf states as part of a settlement of class-action lawsuit filed by municipalities who said they suffered economic loss because of the disaster. Nearly $8 million of that money went to 32 government entities that are more than 100 miles from the Coast, in places like the Mississippi Delta and suburbs of central Alabama, according to The Associated Press.
Even Ruleville in the Mississippi Delta received almost $41,000 for its claim of lost revenue from sales taxes.
Earlier this year, Gov. Phil Bryant and Attorney General Jim Hood announced that Mississippi reached an agreement with BP to settle claims related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The settlement will bring approximately $1.5 billion in additional relief to Mississippi over the next 17 years. Combined with $659 million in early funding, Mississippi is receiving a total of nearly $2.2 billion in compensation.
Clusters of landlocked municipalities more than 100 miles from the Gulf Coast have secured millions of dollars in BP money through settlements designed to compensate local governments for lost tourism dollars and other economic damage from the company’s April 2010 oil spill, according to AP.
BP’s settlements with local governments are part of its broader $18.7 billion agreement with the five Gulf Coast states and the federal government. Larger portions of settlement money are dedicated to coastal restoration work. BP already has paid billions of dollars in compensation to Gulf Coast businesses and residents who claim the spill cost them money.
Of Mississippi's share, approximately $183 million was for Natural Resource Damage Assessment payments, approximately $582 million in Clean Water Act penalties under the RESTORE Act and $750 million in economic damages.
Hood said he hopes the money will provide "a shot in the arm" to the Coast economy and state economy. He noted there is likely to be debate in the Legislature on how and where to spend the $750 million in economic damages over which it will have control. The state will receive $150 million of that money in 2016, then payments of $40 million a year from 2019 through 2033.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Jimmie E. Gates at (601) 961-7212 or jgates@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @jgatesnews on Twitter.