New Orleans, LA – BP PLC will give $75 million in grants to Alabama, Florida and Mississippi as they respond to the nation's worst oil spill.
BP COO Doug Suttles said in a statement Thursday that the energy giant was making the funds available at the request of the governors in each of the three Gulf states.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour says the grant will fund additional protection for the most environmentally sensitive stretches of his state's coastline. It will also prevent Mississippi from using its own money to fight the oil spill.
The leak began April 20 after an oil rig exploded off the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers. The government has estimated 600,000 to 1.2 million gallons are leaking per day, although those estimates could soon be revised.
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