Robertsdale, AL – The Robertsdale city will get approximately twice the amount it had expected from BP as part of a settlement over April 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to officials.

The Council members Friday voted to receive a final settlement from the British oil giant for loss in municipal revenue during the oil spill. The city will get a sum of more than $40,000 for losses in business license fees, sales tax and other revenue losses caused by the Deepwater Horizon spill.

The city has received $20,000 already. The new deal will give at around another $22000, according to city lawyer Ken Raines.

“This is going to be the ultimate settlement,” Raines said. He said the oil company will also pay fees of his attorneys under the settlement, so that he won’t have to bill the city for his service.

Charles Murphy, the city Mayor, said he was happy about the deal as the city authorities had never expected further money after the initial $20,000.

Panama City – BP oil spill victims can still file compensation claims over April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill as the deadline to submit the claims has been extended to June 11 from May 7. People who suffered economic losses because of the oil spill disaster can apply for the compensation via the Quick Payment Program.

Until recently, the claims for compensation were being handled by a $20 billion fund, known as Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), established by oil giant BP. The facility, which was administered by Mr. Kenneth Feinberg, stopped functioning as it was replaced by a court supervised system as part of a settlement agreement between private oil spill plaintiffs and BP.

Businesses suffered losses because of the Gulf oil spill can get $25000, whereas individual victims can get $5000 by the Quick Payment program. Those receive a quick pay are not eligible to make additional claims other than death or personal injury claims.

According to federal prosecutors, a businessman who shifted from Georgia to New Orleans after the devastating April 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been charged for swindling the compensation fund established for genuine victims.

The Department of Justice says Dwayne, 41, has been charged a few days back on one count of mail fraud.

Lawyer Jim Letten said Smith relocated to New Orleans 4 months after the Gulf oil spill disaster and started a business named ‘D&D Designs’.

The Justice Department says Smith received $100,000 from BP’s Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) though he did not actually deserve it.

Smith is also accused of filing fraudulent tax returns from 2007 to 2010. He is facing up to 20 years in prison, in addition to fines and reimbursement of received money.

Washington – Members in a House-Senate conference committee started arguing on legislation, which would drive billions of dollars to the Gulf Coast states impacted by the April 2010 BP oil spill.

The members are trying to negotiate differences between the Senate and the House versions of a transportation bill, which includes the RESTORE Act. The act is meant to give 80 percent of the BP oil spill fines to the Gulf Coast communities.

The estimated BP fine is between $5 and $20 billion. If the legislation is not approved, this money would directly go to the government treasury. Then it would be spent for whatever decided by the Congress.

The main difference between the Senate and House bills is whether to give a part of BP fines to a conservation fund, which would help out other states as well. Another difference is whether to impose tax increase on American companies doing business abroad.

Fort Walton Beach, FL – A County in Florida’s Panhandle has decided to use an interim director of tourism to substitute a man who passed away amid allegations that public money given by BP following the April 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was misused by him.

Greg Donovan, the Airports Director of Okaloosa County, was chosen as Tourist Development Council’s interim head.

Donovan will be replacing Mark Bellinger, who died of drug overdose on Friday.

Bellinger had resigned after agreeing that he used tax dollars to purchase a yacht without the knowledge of county commissioners. An arrest warrant was issued against him over his buying of a Destin home using the money provided to the county by British oil giant BP as oil spill compensation.

2 years after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon rig blast and subsequent oil spill, fish and shrimp appears with lesions in the Gulf waters. Now Shrimping has been halted for the time being in the Gulf of Mexico.

Shrimping was stopped because of the deformities discovered in fishes because of the disastrous oil spill and chemical dispersants used for cleaning up the oil.

After the Gulf of Mexico disaster, there was news that the shrimps and fish all over the Gulf were nauseatingly deformed by the oil spill.

All area in the Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound, and certain waters of Little Lagoon, Bon Secour and Wolf Bay were closed for shrimping.

New Orleans – By charging and arresting a former BP executive, the U.S. Justice Department showed its hand in Gulf of Mexico oil spill case. The federal prosecutors said they were investigating whether the oil company and its employees violated the law by purposefully lowballing the amount of crude spewed from its blown-out oil well.

Two years after the Deepwater Horizon accident, a 50-year-old Katy man named Kurt Mix was arrested a few days back. He was arrested for allegedly deleting approximately three hundred text messages indicating that the actual amount of released crude was far greater than what BP disclosed to the public. The case brings the very first criminal charges in the Deepwater Horizon investigation that the U.S. Department of Justice is conducting.

According to legal experts, this is only an initial move by the Department of Justice. As the ongoing investigation progresses, more arrests are likely.

The charges might not affect a proposed settlement for resolving the oil spill-related claims filed by around 100000 Gulf residents and businesses, who are suing the oil giant over financial loss they suffered on account of the disaster.

BP Plc. says that the company is cooperating with the federal probes into the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf. The company said this as a response to the news that one of its former executives was charged with destroying evidence on the actual size of the oil released into the Gulf following the Deepwater Horizon rig blast.

According to BP, the company had specific policies for preservation of proof in the case and has carried out significant attempts to preserve evidence.

However, the British oil giant didn’t comment on the federal government’s charges against its former engineer Kurt Mix. According to the U.S., Mix deleted critical messages containing information on the amount of oil spilled.

The quantity of oil discharged is vital because the potential fines to be paid by BP will be determined on the basis of that.

MS – Harrison is the last county to join other federal entities’ forces on the Gulf coast in a fight to recover economic losses caused by April 2010 BP oil spill.

Harrison County Overseers Monday voted to formally sue the British oil giant BP over the 2010 disaster, according to board lawyer Tim Holleman.

Jackson County, Gautier, Ocean Springs, Moss Point and Pascagoula also are in a joined effort to settle with the oil company.

“Since some weeks following the oil spill disaster, we had been jointly working and arranging meetings to find the best action to be taken,” Holleman said.

Holleman said they had met each other week. He said Monday’s meeting was to proceed on a formal agreement to file a claim.

Two years after the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP and the steering committee for the private claimants have agreed to settle the multi billion dollar claims for financial, medical and property damages.

The parties have filed the formal terms of the deal in New Orleans federal court, explaining how BP plans to manage the numerous sorts of claims it is facing from hotel operators, condominium owners, restaurateurs, seafood operators and resort owners.

According to BP, the amount that it will pay to settle the claims is not capped.

As per the filing, the plaintiffs can submit their claims in 6 categories: financial loss to a business or individual, a vessel’s physical damage, property damage, subsistence damage, seafood operators’ damages, and payment for those involved in BP Plc’s Vessels of Opportunity program.