HOUSTON, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- With more than $13.6 billion spent on cleanup operations, BP said it's moving to restore the southern U.S. coast following Deepwater Horizon accident.
British energy company BP said it received approval from the U.S. Coast Guard's on-scene coordinator for its shoreline cleanup operation plan some 18 months after the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico.
An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 workers in April 2010 and resulted in a massive oil spill. Investigators said the process used to cement the Macondo well was part of the series of malfunctions that led to the explosion.
BP added that 635 miles, or nearly 15 percent, of the U.S. gulf coast required some level of spill-related cleaning. Now more than 90 percent of the coast meets standards set by the federal government for cleanup operations, BP said.
The company said about 95,000 tons of oiled debris was collected from the shores of the southern United States.
"This is an important milestone in the recovery process for the Gulf Coast," Mike Utsler, head of BP's gulf coast restoration organization, said in a statement. "As final shoreline clean-p operations are completed, restoration activities can begin that will enhance the Gulf Coast ecosystem and its communities."
