U.S. & Five Gulf States Reach Historic $20.8 billion Settlement with BP

<> U.S. & Five Gulf States Reach Historic $20.8 billion Settlement with BP - The U.S. Department of Justice joined the five Gulf states in announcing a  settlement to resolve civil claims against BP arising from the April 20, 2010 Macondo well blowout and the massive oil spill that followed in the Gulf of Mexico -- resolves the governments' civil claims under the Clean Water Act and natural resources damage claims under the Oil Pollution Act, as well as economic damage claims of the five Gulf states and local governments -- this global resolution of civil claims is worth $20.8 billion, and is the largest settlement with a single entity in the department's history.