[StBernard] Governor's statement on legal action taken against the Minerals Management Service

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Thu Jul 20 22:49:34 EDT 2006


Governor's statement on legal action taken against the Minerals Management Service


"Today, acting under the authority of Federal and state law and on behalf of the citizens of Louisiana, I have filed a complaint against the Federal government, specifically the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the U.S. Department of the Interior. I have taken this action to ensure the long term protection of our coastal environment, the communities in south Louisiana, and the nation's critical energy infrastructure. This complaint asks the court to stop Lease Sale 200.

"The complaint states the ways in which the MMS has violated the National Environmental Protection Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in moving forward with Lease Sale 200. This oil and gas lease sale in the Western Gulf of Mexico, scheduled for August 16, will make available millions of acres of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for exploration and production. As on leases throughout the Gulf, the production resulting from this lease sale will require the essential onshore support of coastal Louisiana. As in the past, this support does impact our fragile coastal landscape.

"In spite of the persistent and dramatic land loss in coastal Louisiana and the devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on our coast, MMS has chosen to proceed with the lease sale over my objections. This action shows a callous disregard for the serious concerns the state has articulated in letters requesting the lease sale be postponed.

"The state of Louisiana has historically been the Federal government's number one partner in providing our nation its domestic offshore energy supply. However, we cannot continue future OCS leasing until the state receives a Federal commitment to ensure its ability to protect these national assets, both environmental and economic. This is about ensuring the viability of a sustained domestic energy supply. It is ironic that MMS would disregard such a notion."

To view the summary of the complaint click the following link:
http://www.gov.state.la.us/assets/docs/PDFs/LS200ComplaintSummary.pdf <http://keelson.eatel.net/websites/la.gov/action.cfm?md=communication&task=addClick&msg_ID=2181&ID=d%20i3etiCn7n0&redirect=http://www.gov.state.la.us/assets/docs/PDFs/LS200ComplaintSummary.pdf>

To view the full complaint click the following link:
http://www.gov.state.la.us/assets/docs/PDFs/LS200Complaint.pdf <http://keelson.eatel.net/websites/la.gov/action.cfm?md=communication&task=addClick&msg_ID=2181&ID=d%20i3etiCn7n0&redirect=http://www.gov.state.la.us/assets/docs/PDFs/LS200Complaint.pdf>


###


The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation Louisiana's Fund for Louisiana's People www.louisianahelp.org




More information about the StBernard mailing list