The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) began bringing up its external web site and e-mail systems in stages last Wednesday after a federal court in Washington, DC, gave the agency the green light to re-establish Internet connections and resume operations. The MMS said it expects to have its web page fully restored and updated by the first part of this week.

The move comes nearly three and a half months after the Interior Department was forced to shut down its entire web site in response to a temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, which barred access to news and information on the agency’s web page and crippled the ability of department employees to send e-mails.

Lamberth took the action as part of a lawsuit in which Indian plaintiffs cited a lack of Internet security surrounding the Interior-maintained Indian trust accounts, which hold royalty monies from oil and gas production, and timber and mining activities on their lands. The plaintiffs claimed the Indian trust accounts were easy prey for outside hackers, and that this contributed to the alleged mismanagement of billions of Indian royalties over the years (See NGI, Dec. 10, 2001).

A court-appointed special master cleared MMS to reopen its web site, said MMS spokeswoman Diane Lawhon. The web site is www.mms.gov.

Oil and gas producers will be able to submit production and royalty reports to MMS via the systems of contractors Peregrine Corp. and USI Net, she said. Information on electronic reporting can be obtained by calling MMS at (800) 525-9167.

The agency collects, accounts for and disburses billions of dollars each year primarily from royalties for oil and gas produced offshore and onshore on federal and Indian lands. The revenues totaled nearly $10 billion in 2001, according to MMS.

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