May 18, 2013
The south Alabama city of Gulf Shores has settled with BP for $6.5 million in future losses to the city's tax revenues due to the 2010 oil spill.
Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft says that the settlement does not include beach cleanup costs or past tax losses, only future losses in tax revenues.
The Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank 50 miles off Louisiana after a BP oil well a mile below the ocean's surface blew out. More than 200 million gallons of oil spewed before the well was capped nearly three months later.
Craft said the city is concerned that tar might return to the beach in the event of a storm, and city revenues could suffer if beaches close.
