Citrus County is moving forward with its multiyear plan to use monies from the BP oil spill.
Citrus County Administrator Randy Oliver told the county commission on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Treasury has tentatively approved the county’s plans for $4.3 million, and that the plan will be posted on the county’s web site for 45 days.
The public will also have a chance to comment during a future public hearing, Oliver said. After that, he said, that information will be sent back to the Treasury Department.
The blockbuster $18.7 billion oil spill settlement unveiled on June 30, 2016 between the U.S. government and oil company BP gave the Justice Department what it wanted: the biggest environmental fine ever levied against a corporation.
It also gave BP what it needed: a sense of closure after years spent fighting costly and complex courtroom battles over its role in the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
The deal marked a final reckoning for the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which riveted the nation for months in 2010 as television networks and Web sites continuously showed underwater video of the leak and the Obama administration struggled to respond effectively.