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$215M in BP oil spill money to restore Louisiana marshes

FILE - In this Saturday, July 31, 2010, file photo, a ribbon of oil lines the bottom stalks of marsh grass at low tide in a cove in Barataria Bay on the coast of Louisiana. The April 20, 2010, explosion at the BP Deepwater Horizon offshore platform killed 11 men, and the subsequent leak released an estimated 172 million gallons of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana will get nearly $215 million in BP oil spill money for two projects that will restore more than 4,600 acres of marsh and other habitat in the New Orleans area. Gov. John Bel Edwards says work on the projects should begin in 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana will get nearly $215 million in BP oil spill money for two projects that will restore more than 4,600 acres of marsh and other habitat in the New Orleans area.

Gov. John Bel Edwards says work on the projects should begin next year.


Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority President Chip Kline says each will set a record. He says the 2,800 acres to be created in St. Bernard Parish will be the largest area ever bid by the agency. He says one in Plaquemines Parish will use the largest amount of dredged material.

The money is from BP’s $8.8 billion settlement for natural resources damage in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill.