Lafayette, LA – U.S. Congressman Charles W. Boustany, Jr., MD (R-Southwest Louisiana) today acknowledged the first Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) payment from BP to repair the Louisiana coastline and the ecosystems affected by last year’s Deepwater Horizon tragedy. Boustany noted more must be done to ensure the wetlands are fully restored and the lives of those disrupted by the disaster returned to normal.

“This is only the beginning of securing BP funds to restore coastal Louisiana,” Boustany said.“I will continue to advocate for those affected by the spill until all fully recover. BP must fulfill its responsibility to Louisiana’s fragile coastline and to the shrimpers, fishermen and service workers whose jobs and livelihoods were severely affected by the spill.”

On Thursday, BP announced in a statement it will “accelerate work starting this year to restore areas of the Gulf of Mexico that were affected by the Deepwater Horizon accident.” The agreement commits up to $1 billion to projects to restore injured natural resources in the Gulf.  The $1 billion in early restoration projects will be selected and implemented as follows:

• Each state – Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas - will select and implement $100 million in projects;
• The Federal Resource Trustees – NOAA and DOI – will each select and implement $100 million in projects;
• The remaining $300 million will be used for projects selected by NOAA and DOI from proposals submitted by the State Trustees.

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