U.S. Asks Courts to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Drill Ban
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Two New Orleans courts were asked by Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar to dismiss an industry lawsuit challenging a U.S. deep-water drilling moratorium after the government issued a new temporary ban.
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans on June 22 threw out the six-month ban imposed by federal regulators on oil and gas drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet, finding it was too broad. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans on July 8 refused regulators’ request to put Feldman’s order on hold while the government appeals.