Cities, counties and the state have received $31.7 million in payments from BP for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the company reported late Thursday in its latest update on payments made since the disaster.
The payments, made by the oil company to reimburse governments for recovery costs and loss of revenue brought on by the April 20, 2010 explosion and fire aboard the rig that led to the biggest oil spill in U.S. history, come in addition to payments made by the company to private residents and businesses for lost revenue related to the spill.
Private companies are required to go though the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, which as of Thursday had distributed more than $4.6 billion on 196,524 claims.
Overall, the facility has received 502,177 claims.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will be in Pensacola on Monday as part of hearings held by the U.S Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship to get updates a year after the spill.
Meanwhile, in a letter on Friday to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, set up to reimburse people and businesses from spill related cost, BP said after paying more than $4.6 billion to private citizens and businesses, the Gulf coast economy is mostly back on its feet.
The letter also claims that the company should not have to pay for most new losses going forward and this should be limited to the small minority of applicants whose businesses have not rebounded.
