BP Deepwater Horizon Texas Coastal Restoration

Speaker: Tim Richardson, HSCF Life Member, Government Affairs Consultant for Texas Counties, and former Texas journalist 

This April 20th marks the 11th dark anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill that killed 11 rig workers and spewed 4 million barrels of toxic hydrocarbons in the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days. The aftermath left 1,300 miles of oiled beaches and coastal marshes from Texas to Florida, lots of wildlife killed, livelihoods ruined and reams of lawsuits.

What is less well known is that Texas received over $1 billion in the BP and Transocean environmental settlements to be used for coastal restoration that began in 2012. Tim Richardson worked on the Exxon Valdez restoration for Texas Members of Congress in 1989, then began helping Jefferson County and Nueces County secure restoration funding in 2013. Tim will present a status update on Texas coastal restoration and provide a look ahead of what more can be done.

This disaster was dramatized in the movie Deepwater Horizon. To learn more: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1860357/.