BP Settlement Money Starts Flowing to Northwest Florida

BP settlement money is headed to new water and sewer lines for an industrial park, technical-education programs in two counties and expansion of the Port of Panama City.

The Triumph Gulf Coast board of directors, set up by the Legislature to oversee settlement money from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, agreed Friday to dish out more than $18 million for the first four regional-economic development projects in Northwest Florida. The money came from an initial $300 million that Triumph Gulf Coast has received from the state's share of the settlement from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Before the money changes hands to the local level, terms still must be negotiated about performance requirements and how the state can recover money “if the projects don't produce promised results,” according to a news release from Triumph.