$475M settlement proposed in longest-running US oil spill

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a New Orleans-based company has agreed to turn over a $432 million trust fund and pay $43 million to settle a lawsuit over cleaning up the nation’s longest-running oil spill. Sixteen wells off Louisiana have been leaking since September 2004, when a subsea mudslide caused by Hurricane Ivan knocked over a Taylor Energy Co. production platform. The settlement also requires Taylor to drop several lawsuits against the government. The government says Taylor has agreed to turn over all remaining assets after liquidation. They’re estimated at $43 million. Taylor’s website states that it sold all its oil and gas assets in 2008 and exists now only to respond to the toppled platform.