North Carolina moves to raise limit on oil spill damages

Way to go North Carolina.

Lawmakers hope to erase a cap on damages that the state could collect from BP before an oil slick arrives at the state's shores.

A state House committee approved a bill Thursday that wipes out a limit on damages the state could collect from an oil spill. Currently the state's cap mirrors a federal limit of $75 million. That cap was set for North Carolina in 1989 after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

The bill would apply to all spills of oil or hazardous materials in the state's waters, but the backers specifically aimed it at the oil gushing in the Gulf of Mexico, said Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat and one of the primary sponsors.

Oil spill liability cap- Business Week

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/11/1676099/north-carolina-moves-to-raise.html#ixzz0qgWfwFGD