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(BP) -- BP Exploration & Production,
Inc. signed a ground breaking agreement with federal and state agencies that
will accelerate work starting this year to restore areas of the Gulf of Mexico
that were affected by the Deepwater Horizon accident.
The agreement commits up to USD 1 bln to projects that will restore
injured natural resources in the Gulf at the earliest opportunity. It allows
projects important to the Gulf’s recovery to begin now, as early restoration
projects, rather than waiting for the Trustees to complete all of the Natural
Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) studies that are underway. The projects will
undergo public review before they are funded, and priority will be assigned to
projects aimed at improving areas that offer the greatest benefits to wildlife,
habitat, and recreational use.
Shortly after the incident, BP began working with federal and state
agencies to collect data needed to assess damages to natural resources, through
the NRDA process. Over 100 cooperative studies are underway to evaluate the
potential for injury to all types of wildlife and habitat in the Gulf of
Mexico.
Under the expedited restoration framework made possible by this
agreement, and to allow restoration to begin as quickly as possible, the
Trustees will use the study data they have collected to date to identify
injuries that are evident now and propose plans to restore those resources at
the earliest opportunity, focusing on projects that can start in 2011 and 2012.
mrcplast.com
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