By: Knox Graham
 
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Justice Department has come to a settle with Transocean LTD, the owner of the oilrig in the Gulf of Mexico that caused the 2010 oil spill.
 
That oilrig explosion took four Mississippi lives and 11 total.
 
Reports indicate the company will pay a total of $1.4B in compensation.  That money breaks down to $1B in civil penalties and $400M in criminal penalties.
 
According to reports the majority of the money will go to environmental restoration projects and future spill-prevention training.
 
No specific money amounts or projects where the money on the Mississippi Gulf Coast would be used have been decided due to the settlement just being rendered on Thursday but one would have to think this is good news for the state.
 
BP settled for $4.5B and in the grand scheme of things this isn’t as much money as most experts thought Transocean would be forced to cough up.
 
That Deepwater Horizon rig was drilling about 50 miles southeast of Louisiana on April 20, 2010 when the explosion took place causing the single largest oil spill in the history of the country and taking the previously mentioned 11 lives.