The U.S. Treasury Department released a rule Wednesday to distribute the multi-billion fines paid by British oil giant BP and other responsible parties to Gulf coast states affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The department said in a press release Wednesday that 80 percent of the billions of dollars in fines will go into a trust fund. Thirty-five percent of that trust fund will be split between Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida for economic and ecological restoration.

Another 30 percent will go to ecosystem restoration, and yet another 30 percent will go to states based on the amount of shore line hit by oil. The remaining 5 percent will go to federal and state marine research efforts.

The amount of fines and penalties BP will pay is still undetermined. The court is yet to decide how much oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico exactly. The final phase of the trial on the question is scheduled in January next year.

On April 20, 2010, BP's Deepwater Horizon drill platform caught fire and exploded, killing 11 workers and triggering one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.

BP said it had so far paid more than 26 billion U.S. dollars in cleanup costs and damage claims to individuals, businesses and governments. Endi

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