A New Orleans federal judge lifted the six-month moratorium imposed on deepwater drilling by President Barack Obama after the BP spill. In New Orleans, U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman found that the administration had failed to satisfy requirements for notice and comment from industry. The case is Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC v. Salazar, 2:10-cv-01663(E.D. La.).
The ban stopped all drilling deeper than 500 feet on May 27 until the completion of a commission report.
The Louisiana governor is pushing for more drilling as the spill worsens off his coast. However, Feldman was faced with a clear procedural violation and ordered the moratorium lifted. Louisiana officials also argued that the federal government failed to consult with state officials as well as industry.
In granting the injunction, Feldman stated:
“Much to the government’s discomfort and this Court’s uneasiness, the summary also states that ‘the recommendations contained in this report have been peer-reviewed by seven experts identified by the National Academy of Engineering.’ As the plaintiffs, and the experts themselves, pointedly observe, this statement was misleading,”
Feldman has been criticized for ruling on the matter despite his own personal investments in the oil industry.
Obama has only agreed to suspend his lifting of drilling on the Eastern Shore — a move that was denounced by environmentalists before the BP spill.
Source: Bloomberg.
What about the mineral leases? The permits and the leases are separate documents.
I would think there would be many legal avenues to investigate if you wanted to stop deep water drillling:
Mineral Lease: This document just gives the lessee exclusive access to the mineral deposits and nothing else. I have no idea what’s in this type of lease but surely there might be something to enable the feds to terminate the lease in the event of a national emergency.
Drilling Permit: Then, as Patrick said, there are the permits to drill. I have no idea what these permits provide. You would think that a Big Oil company would require a permit that couldn’t just be yanked unilaterally by MMS. Once the drill rig is set up, Big Oil has too much of an investment to just let some “Federal Bureaucrat” unilaterally yank the permit without a “default” notice and opportunity to cure.
At any rate, I would hope the Obama DOJ has creative competant lawyers who are looking at attacking this problem from every angle. Of, if they don’t have DOJ attorneys capable of thinkng outside the box, then hire some outside experts in the oil/gas area.
Buddha,
LOL. I know the MMS is corrupt, but it is hard to believe any Gov’t agency anywhere, would issue a permit that couldn’t be rescinded if the facts the permit was issued on turned out to be false. So, the drilling can be stopped if Salazar wants it stopped.
Patrick,
Not only do I like the way you think, but I may want to take you to Vegas . . .
“US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has said he will issue an order for a new moratorium on deep water oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after a court blocked an earlier ban.”
from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10387830.stm
Over half of the federal judges in the relevant areas have strong ties to big oil, as did judge Feldman.
http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2010/06/supremes-are-well-oiled-2.html
28 U.S.C. § 455 : US Code – Section 455: Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge
(a) Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States
shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his
impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
(b) He shall also disqualify himself in the following
circumstances:
(1) Where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a
party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts
concerning the proceeding;
(2) Where in private practice he served as lawyer in the matter
in controversy, or a lawyer with whom he previously practiced law
served during such association as a lawyer concerning the matter,
or the judge or such lawyer has been a material witness
concerning it;
(3) Where he has served in governmental employment and in such
capacity participated as counsel, adviser or material witness
concerning the proceeding or expressed an opinion concerning the
merits of the particular case in controversy;
(4) He knows that he, individually or as a fiduciary, or his
spouse or minor child residing in his household, has a financial
interest in the subject matter in controversy or in a party to
the proceeding, or any other interest that could be substantially
affected by the outcome of the proceeding;
(5) He or his spouse, or a person within the third degree of
relationship to either of them, or the spouse of such a person:
(i) Is a party to the proceeding, or an officer, director, or
trustee of a party;
(ii) Is acting as a lawyer in the proceeding;
(iii) Is known by the judge to have an interest that could be
substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding;
(iv) Is to the judge’s knowledge likely to be a material
witness in the proceeding.
(c) A judge should inform himself about his personal and
fiduciary financial interests, and make a reasonable effort to inform himself about the personal financial interests of his spouse and minor children residing in his household.
(d) For the purposes of this section the following words or
phrases shall have the meaning indicated:
(1) “proceeding” includes pretrial, trial, appellate review, or
other stages of litigation;
(2) the degree of relationship is calculated according to the
civil law system;
(3) “fiduciary” includes such relationships as executor,
administrator, trustee, and guardian;
(4) “financial interest” means ownership of a legal or
equitable interest, however small, or a relationship as director, adviser, or other active participant in the affairs of a party, except that:
(i) Ownership in a mutual or common investment fund that holds securities is not a “financial interest” in such securities unless the judge participates in the management of the fund;
(ii) An office in an educational, religious, charitable, fraternal, or civic organization is not a “financial interest”
in securities held by the organization;
(iii) The proprietary interest of a policyholder in a mutual insurance company, of a depositor in a mutual savings association, or a similar proprietary interest, is a “financial
interest” in the organization only if the outcome of the proceeding could substantially affect the value of the
interest;
(iv) Ownership of government securities is a “financial
interest” in the issuer only if the outcome of the proceeding
could substantially affect the value of the securities.
(e) No justice, judge, or magistrate judge shall accept from the
parties to the proceeding a waiver of any ground for
disqualification enumerated in subsection (b). Where the ground for disqualification arises only under subsection (a), waiver may be accepted provided it is preceded by a full disclosure on the record of the basis for disqualification.
(f) Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this section, if
any justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge to whom a matter has been assigned would be disqualified, after substantial judicial time has been devoted to the matter, because of the appearance or discovery, after the matter was assigned to him or her, that he or she individually or as a fiduciary, or his or her spouse or minor child residing in his or her household, has a financial interest in a party (other than an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome),disqualification is not required if the justice, judge, magistrate judge, bankruptcy judge, spouse or minor child, as the case may be, divests himself or herself of the interest that provides the grounds for the disqualification. [emphasis added]
____
The use of the word “substantial” applies to a change in value of the interest, not its relative value to the holder. Relative value is a subjective perception and the law sets forth objective standards for recusal. Being that Feldman didn’t divest himself of said interest (no matter how small) that makes the value of your assessment de minimis, Just Vivisecting. He should have recused himself (or divested himself of the interest) and his failure to do so merits disbarment.
This impeachment talk is a joke. The judge did not violate the Code of Judicial Conduct because his security holding is merely a “de minimis” holding. As such, disqualification is not required.
Patrick,
I like the way you think.
I don’t see why the DOI can’t simply revoke all permits currently issued for drilling beyond 500′. Those permits were made with Emergency Action plans that we all know are fiction. So, in light of that new evidence, revoke them all. Let the industry re-apply. Then they will wonder why they gave up a 6 month moratorium for a 2-8 year process. Some of the permits might never get reissued (until a Republican is President maybe).
mespo,
A vir est tantum ut bonus ut suus sodalitas.
And where, I ask you, can one find better companions than here?
if it was a procedural issue, can the Administration merely re-impose the moratorium and stick to the procedures?
Buddha:
“Some people just love to kiss ass and some just love to kick it.”
******************
I place you firmly and admiringly in the latter category:
“Buddha locuta est. Causa finita est”
Perhaps a sack full of flack hacks from Hackensack.
It’s a complicated issue, mespo.
*snicker*
Ah, who am I kidding! It’s not complicated at all. Some people just love to kiss ass and some just love to kick it.
hack hack flack
Pardon.
It must be my allergy to bullshit acting up.
Obviously. Since Feldman can’t even spell conflict of interest.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Buddha:
I do. Wilson, -Y-Sack, or -ensack?
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Hack
Jonathan,
It was quite the pleasure to stumble upon your blog today. I have heard your name in passing but was pleased to learn more about you and read your thoughts on the Obama Moratorium. It’s an interesting case since Feldman is ultimately challenging the president– with good cause. Clearly things need to be re-evaluated and all sides need to be heard to fullness before continuing. It all seems a bit hasty.
I think you might like this short video. It offers multiple views on the moratorium. Some feel that such precautions are necessary since we cannot afford to have such a travesty occur again, while other think that such a halt would cause further disaster. One quote states that the action “…strangles an industry that supports an entire region of the country” and that “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” Obviously, the latter of the two views seems to have a stronger following now that Feldman has lifted the imposed suspension. I hope you see the relevance of this video to your post and that you will consider embedding it into your blog.
Thanks so much, keep up your good work and please let me know if you have any questions,
Haley
haleyw@newsy.com
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above the rig
Hang him high