Moratorium claims to be considered with others from Gulf of Mexico oil spill

NOLA.com
Published: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 7:28 AM Updated: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 7:29 AM

"Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of the claims fund for victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, said Monday that the White House and BP have agreed to give him jurisdiction over claims from individuals and businesses harmed by the Obama administration's six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling.

"Yes, I now have discovered -- I didn't realize this until yesterday -- that the moratorium claims will fall under my jurisdiction," Feinberg said in an interview Monday on CNN.

"That's a huge development, and we didn't know that before?" replied the CNN reporter.

"I didn't either," Feinberg said.

Feinberg's new authority could vastly expand BP's liability to include claims not just from those whose livelihood has been directly affected by the spill, but also to include those who work in the deepwater drilling industry. " More>>>>