The settlement amount announced Monday by the U.S. Justice Department that BP will pay for its role in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill is about $2 billion more than initially announced in July.

In a statement released earlier this week, BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said the change is due to the inclusion of amounts previously spent or disclosed by the company and does not change the original settlement.

Justice Department officials said the company will have to pay $20.8 billion in the settlement, up from what was once $18.7 billion. Both amounts represent the largest environmental settlement in U.S. history.

Once approved by a judge, the resolution will end a five-year legal battle concerning the millions of gallons of oil that affected 1,300 miles of coastline.

The five Gulf states — Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama and Florida — will receive $4.9 billion in economic damages claims. The other details of the resolution include BP paying a $5.5 billion penalty in civil claims under the Clean Water Act.

At a Justice Department news conference Monday, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said 80 percent of the $5.5 billion will “help the Gulf recover from the injuries it has suffered.”

The company also agreed to pay $7.1 billion in natural resource damages under the Oil Pollution Act on top of the $1 billion the company already agreed to pay for early Gulf restoration work.

Louisiana will receive $5 billion of the $8 billion.

Lynch said the steep penalty should inspire companies like BP to “take every measure necessary to ensure nothing like this can ever happen again.”

“Taken as a whole, this resolution is both strong and fitting,” she said.

Cameron Parish Administrator Ryan Bourriaque said the news about the settlement is positive, but that officials within the region remain curious as to how the funds will be divided within the state.

“We anticipate having future meetings to see what our allocation will be,” he said.

When the amount was originally announced, Bourriaque said funds the parish receives would go toward shoreline protection and coastal restoration projects.

U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette — who helped author legislation that establishes protocols for the use of settlement funds to the affected states — said in a statement the announcement does not mark the end of the issue.

“We must ensure every penny is used wisely to help stop coastal erosion, heal affected fisheries, and return our waters to their pristine condition,” he said.

(MGNonline)