Yahoo.com posted an Associated Press article today about the lawsuit filed by the Covington-based Hornbeck Offshore Services of Covington, Louisiana, charging that the six month moratorium on deep-water drillling in the Gulf of Mexico was arbitrarily set by the government.
According to the article:
"Companies that ferry people and supplies to offshore oil rigs asked a federal judge Monday to lift a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects imposed in the aftermath of the massive Gulf spill.
"U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman heard two hours of arguments Monday and said he will decide by Wednesday whether to overturn the ban imposed by President Barack Obama's administration after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion."
It will be very interesting to see how the judge rules. The shutdown of the drilling projects has created tremendous hardship for people working in the industries that support offshore drilling. The oil spill has already deeply impacted the tourist industry in the Gulf, and the shutdown is a further blow to the area. If drilling is continued, there will always be the danger of a spill--underwater drilling is not perfect science, but that risk has to be weighed against the economy of the region.
Leave a comment