Offshore Drill Bans Sent Back to New Orleans Judge for Review
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The same judge who scrapped a six-month moratorium on drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill must review both bans issued by the Obama administration, a U.S. appeals court ruled.
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans, who sided with offshore oil-service firms when he struck down the first moratorium on June 22, was directed to hold hearings on the legality of that measure and a later ban imposed after the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig operated by BP Plc.