More than 100 nonprofit organizations and government entities will share almost USD 44 million in BP funds to promote Gulf Coast tourism and the seafood industries impacted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the court-appointed oil-spill claims administrator said Wednesday.
Patrick Juneau, a Lafayette lawyer who took over the spill claims process earlier this year, said 110 groups were selected from more than 350 applications, narrowed down by an independent panel that had experience reviewing tourism grants.
Among the grant recipients were the Lt. Governor's Office, the New Orleans Marketing Corporation and the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“This was a very thorough process,” Juneau said in a statement. “We feel each of these applicants presented a unique and well-defined plan to use these funds as tourism generators and promotion of local seafood.”
Out of the five states eligible to apply for grants, 43 organizations in Louisiana — for a total of almost USD 16 million — received funding in this first round of the USD 57 million program, which was established by BP and Plaintiffs' Steering Committee as part of the proposed BP Gulf oil spill class action settlement. Just how much each group received was not released Wednesday.
