Deepwater Horizon Trustees Release 2021 Annual Reports

Dunes and dune vegetation at Santa Rosa Island Beach

In June 2022, the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resources Damage Assessment Trustees published its sixth collection of annual reports. These reports inform the public of the work of the Trustee Implementation Groups. These groups represent the seven geographic restoration areas defined in the Deepwater Horizon consent decree. The reports cover work accomplished in the 2021 calendar year.

During 2021, the Trustee Implementation Groups approved 3 new restoration plans and 26 new projects. In the 12 years since the spill, the Trustees and the Trustee Implementation Groups have approved 279 different activities, including plans and projects to restore injured Gulf natural resources. The combined allocated cost of restoration projects so far is $1,969,023,880. 

The Department of the Interior is a member of every Trustee Implementation Group. The Department’s Gulf Restoration Team has been instrumental in developing project proposals that benefit the wildlife and habitats injured by the 2010 oil spill. In 2021, the Department obtained approval for six projects, three on national parks and three on refuges. Two projects enhance the use of Gulf Coast beaches, one for humans and one for sea turtle hatchlings. The first will replace a popular boardwalk at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama. The other project is located in Florida. It will retrofit existing street lighting with lighting that is less distracting to nesting sea turtles.

The Department is partnering with several other Trustees to implement three projects approved in 2021: one for reducing marine debris that harms turtles and impedes nesting, another that uses multiple methods to restore and enhance sea turtle nesting productivity, and another that enhances monitoring and stewardship of bird nesting and foraging areas. 

“The Deepwater Horizon Trustees work hard day after day to attain their goal of restoring the natural resources injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. I am very proud of their work and I’m particularly proud of the restoration activities of the bureaus. They are a very talented and dedicated group of people who love our environment and want to restore it,” said Mary Josie Blanchard, DOI Director of Gulf Restoration.

The 2021 annual reports show the status of each activity as of December 31, 2021. To view the reports, visit each Restoration Area page and scroll down to the list of projects. Clicking on the name of the project and “Print Last Annual Report” will download each report.  

The Trustees 2021 Annual Financial Summary Report identifies funding received and allocated for each Trustee Implementation Group through December 31, 2021. The 2016 settlement with BP included up to $8.8 billion for restoration to address natural resource injuries from the spill. 

For more information, visit www.gulfspillrestoration.gov

 

 

 

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