Sportsmen Group Responds to Ruling that BP Grossly Negligent in 2010 Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Today’s ruling a vital step towards restoring the Gulf

A federal judge has ruled today that BP was “grossly negligent” in its actions that led to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Vanishing Paradise, a coalition of some 800 hunting and fishing businesses and organizations advocating for restoration of the Mississippi River Delta and the Gulf, issued this statement today:

“More than 4 years after the BP oil disaster, today’s ruling is a vital step towards restoring important waterfowl and fishing habitat for the next generation of sportsmen and women. The oil spill tarnished hundreds of miles of coastline and marshes important to fresh and saltwater fishing and waterfowling. The areas most damaged by the spill cannot wait any longer for restoration to begin. Recreational fishing is a critical component of the Gulf economy generating $8 billion annually. In Louisiana alone, some 10 million ducks, geese and other waterfowl winter along the coast and depend on healthy marshes.”

CONTACT:

Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org

Vanishing Paradise

The Mississippi River Delta supports some of the best hunting and fishing anywhere in the world. But since levees were built in the early 1930s, the Mississippi River Delta has lost an area of coastal wetlands, forests and barrier islands almost as large as Delaware. Vanishing Paradise works with over five hundred businesses and organizations to restore Louisiana’s waterfowl and fishing habitat by reconnecting the Mississippi River with its wetlands.