JEFFERSON, LA (AP) — The Jefferson Parish Council has voted unanimously to dedicate $15 million from the parish's BP oil spill settlement to coastal restoration and flood protection initiatives. The remaining $20 million will be split among four council districts.
Multiple news outlets report Wednesday's vote was a compromise reached after about four months of debate on whether to give all the money to the districts that were hit the hardest by the 2010 oil spill or to spend it on projects throughout the parish and pay raises for government employees.
The cash influx is the result of a lawsuit the parish filed against BP in the wake of the oil spill. While the settlement was for more than $53 million, more than $18 million of that went to attorneys' fees and special parish districts dedicated to sewage, lighting and fire protection.
