WBRZ - Baton Rouge

The Obama administration is promising to make BP foot the bill for the massive Gulf Coast oil spill, but it may not be as simple as it sounds.

The administration is keeping track of cleanup costs.

The law passed after the Exxon Valdez spill makes BP liable for cleanup costs.

However, it sets a cap of $75 million for other kinds of damage.

The damage to Gulf fishermen, the tourist trade and other industries is likely to go well beyond
that.

Some lawmakers have introduced a bill to raise the limit to 10 billion, but that would not apply retroactively.