Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Wednesday that new estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that show 217 square miles of Louisiana wetlands were swept away by hurricanes Katrina and Rita provide strong support for her legal action against the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) recent western Gulf oil and gas lease sale.

In a lawsuit filed in July, Louisiana argued that the federal government failed to conduct an adequate environmental assessment of the damage to the state’s coastline caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita before moving forward with the lease sale. The state claimed that MMS’ environmental review of the lease sale fell short of the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. A court hearing is set for Nov. 13 to determine whether the leases will actually be awarded.

In a statement Wednesday, Blanco said the new estimates of wetlands losses by the USGS are almost nine times the amount of land usually lost in one year in the state.

“Earlier this year, MMS, another agency in that same Department of Interior, turned in an environmental assessment in preparation for the western Gulf oil and gas lease sale, stating there was no need to assess the damage of those two hurricanes, basing it on old, pre-storm data,” Blanco said.

“The arrogance of MMS is outrageous and this is why I filed suit against the federal government earlier this year to demand a proper environmental assessment before any further leasing takes place off our shore. This USGS report further strengthens that argument.”

Blanco said the judge in the case has “clearly indicated his concern for the process used by MMS to comply with its own laws and has stated the state’s suit would likely prevail on its merits.”

In his ruling in August, U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt of the Eastern District of Louisiana rejected the state’s bid for a preliminary injunction to stop lease sale 200 (see Daily GPI, Aug. 17).

However, the decision was not a complete setback for the state. The judge said repeatedly that some of the claims in the state’s lawsuit against MMS had merit and that he was inclined to issue a permanent injunction following the November hearing. Faced with this threat, Engelhardt warned bidders to beware because the leases awarded could turn out to be worth little.

“I am using every tool available to me to fight the federal government and will not allow them to continue to disregard the safety and environmental health of our fragile coastline any longer,” said Blanco. “This is not action against the industry. We remain a proud partner with the oil and gas industry as the heart of America’s energy coast. This is about standing up to the federal government. I will continue to take every action available to me to prevent all future leasing from taking place off our coast until these critical needs are met.”

©Copyright 2006Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.