Repairing Damage in the Gulf

After the BP oil "spill" in the Gulf of Mexico, there have been settlements. But where did the money go?

Last October, five years after the spill, the BP oil spill settlement was finally announced. Alabama received $2.3 billion of the $20 billion settlement (which was split between five states along the Gulf and the federal government).

[...]

[Alabama] Gov. Robert Bentley is using some of the BP settlement money to fix the governor’s mansion along the beach — despite the fact that the mansion was destroyed long before the spill [by Hurricane Danny more than two decades earlier].

[...]

Alabama also plans to use a good chunk of the recovery funds to build a 350-room hotel and convention center on the coast.

  Grist

While Alabama’s oyster industry and coastal communities continue to suffer from the effects of the massive Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout, the repairs to the governors’ mansion are estimated to cost between $1.5 million and $1.8 million. Though Bentley says he will stay there only “on occasion,” the administration said the property would be “primarily” used to wine and dine corporate executives considering the state for investment.

  Think Progress

It takes money to make money, right?

Why couldn't they do their wining and dining in the hotel and convention center?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.