Texas sues feds over offshore ban

Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 12, 2010

HOUSTON (AP) — The Texas attorney general has sued the Obama administration, claiming the current offshore drilling moratorium is “unjustified” and officials did not contact state officials before issuing the ban.

Attorney General Greg Abbott filed the 18-page suit in federal court in Houston on Wednesday.

The federal ban imposed July 12 halts all drilling operations in water greater than 500 feet. It is the second offshore drilling moratorium issued by the Interior Department after a federal Louisiana judge struck down an earlier ban a week earlier.

Interior Department spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff called the decision “simply common sense” and would not comment further on the specific lawsuit.