Plans for $114 Million in BP Money

With more than $114 million in BP settlement, 15 restoration projects are on the horizon for Mississippi. Governor Phil Bryant announced the projects at the Coast Coliseum in Biloxi today.
Our state took a heavy hit from the BP oil spill of 2010 and Mississippi is still recovering. As a part of the $2.2 billion the state is supposed to receive, Governor Phil Bryant announced $114 million of the settlement money will fund 15 restoration projects. “We want to be transparent and very accountable. I’m an auditor so I want to make sure every dollar that’s spent is going towards the cause of restoration.”
Purchasing a private oyster hatchery, expanding the Coast Coliseum and Convention Center, and reducing pollution in the Mississippi Sound are just some of the plans Governor Bryant announced before the restoration summit began in Biloxi.
Officials from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, local leaders and members of the community gathered to hear how the BP money would be spent. Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes says he’s happy the money will stay on the Coast and he’s eager for the projects to begin. “The impact they can have on our natural resources, everything from seafood to aquaculture to blue ways. It’s very exciting.”
Most of the money will be put towards projects aiming to improve our water quality, dipping into $60 million of the settlement funds. Officials say they are hoping to lessen the amount of beach advisories we see here on the Coast. MDEQ Executive Director Gary Rikard said, “If the beach advisories are reduced, that will have impact both from an environmental and economic stand point.”
“Without that beautiful gulf of ours, without that sound, nothing here would exist,” said Governor Bryant.
These projects will have to wait for federal approval.
As the comeback continues from the BP spill, officials say the Gulf Coast will be doing more than just restoring. “It was a disaster, but it has presented us with an opportunity not only to put us back in the place that we were before the spill, but to make us better,” said Rikard.