[StBernard] (no subject)

[Westley Annis]

Louisiana Wins Environmental Assessment in Oil Lease Case 

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, October 24, 2006 (ENS) - The State of Louisiana
agreed today to dismiss its lawsuit against the United States after the
Department of the Interior promised a complete environmental analysis of oil
and natural gas leasing in federal waters off the state's coast. The
analysis must take into account the effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita,
as well as the cumulative impacts of offshore leasing activity on the
coastal zone. 

Until the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, MMS, has
completed its environmental analysis, no exploration plan will be permitted
on leases sold in Western Gulf Lease Sale 200, held in August. 

Governor Kathleen Blanco said today, "This is an historic victory for
Louisiana and for all states whose voices deserve to be heard in matters of
their own destiny." 


The Departments of Justice and Interior, the State of Louisiana and the
American Petroleum Institute have agreed to the final terms of this
settlement. All parties to the agreement must submit their settlement
agreement for approval to the District Court for the Eastern District of
Louisiana in New Orleans. 

The settlement comes in a lawsuit filed by the State of Louisiana
challenging Interior's Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 200, charging the
sale was improperly conducted without a thorough environmental analysis. 

The governor filed suit, she said today, so the federal government would,
"not be allowed to get away with a cookie cutter environmental assessment
that ignored the devastation to our coast during the 2005 hurricane season."


To illustrate how much the state's coast has changed, she cited a new
federal government report by the U.S. Geological Survey, a sister agency to
MMS in the U.S. Department of Interior. It finds 217 square miles of
Louisiana's coast was turned into open water by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.


In August the Court said that the state was likely to prevail on the merits
of its claims and set the matter for an expedited hearing. 

Since then, as requested by the Court, Louisiana and the federal government
have been negotiating to resolve the issues before the trial date set for
November 13. 


For its part, the federal government avoided a costly and time consuming
lawsuit. 
"Resolving this dispute by agreement rather than litigation benefits our
nation's energy security by assuring we can move ahead on the leases issued
in Lease Sale 200," said Steve Allred, Interior's assistant secretary for
land and minerals management. 

Lease Sale 200 garnered $340,935,514 in high bids from 62 companies for
parcels on the Outer Continental Shelf, OCS. 

Allred says this level of activity underscores the Gulf of Mexico's
importance to domestic energy production and the oil and gas industry's
interest in expanding its deepwater operations. 

To win the promise of a complete environmental assessment, Louisiana had to
agree not to challenge the issuance of leases to companies for the parcels
they acquired rights to develop under Lease Sale 200 in August. 

Louisiana also agreed not to use the National Environmental Policy Act to
challenge Interior's approval of exploration plans for the Lease Sale 200
parcels, if a complete assessment is done in a timely manner. 


Development of these leases could result in the production of between 136
and 252 million barrels of oil and 0.810 and 1.440 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas. Louisiana has provided the federal government with a list of
Louisiana's enforceable Coastal Zone Management Act policies. Allred says
this step "should prevent future disputes about consistency between
Louisiana's coastal resource program and Interior's future OCS lease sales."

Under the settlement, Interior will not offer new leases in the Gulf of
Mexico off the coast of Louisiana before it issues the Record of Decision on
the Environmental Impact Statement. 

While today's settlement delays future offshore oil and gas lease sales
until that is done, Interior is now planning the next set of lease sales.
The agency will continue the preparation and completion of a NEPA
Environmental Impact Statement for the 11 sales planned in the Gulf of
Mexico during the next five year OCS leasing program - 2007-2012. 

Allred said the settlement "sets the next five year lease program on the
right track." That review must now take into account the impact of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on Louisiana's wetlands and infrastructure. 

The MMS reports that 76 percent of the 4,000 platforms that the agency
administers were in the path of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. There was no
loss of life nor any significant spills on the OCS, and 100 percent of OCS
subsurface safety valves held firm. 

MMS says that 108 older facilities, not built to MMS' upgraded design
standards, were destroyed. They account for only 1.7% of the Gulf's oil
production and 0.9% of the Gulf's gas production. Another 53 platforms
suffered significant damage. 

The MMS manages the mineral resources on 1.76 billion acres of the Outer
Continental Shelf. 

About 43 million OCS acres are leased, accounting for about 20 percent of
America's domestic natural gas production and about 30 percent of America's
domestic oil production.