Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Judge delays new drilling off California

|
|
 
  
Published: Aug. 13, 2005 at 6:54 PM
Advertisement

OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A federal judge has barred new oil drilling off a stretch of the California coast until a better study of environmental hazards is completed.

The Los Angeles Times said the ruling effectively delays any new drilling for years.

The federal government wants to extend leases on 36 tracts north of Los Angeles between Oxnard and San Luis Obispo in Central California.

"We know we cannot move forward until additional environmental analysis has been conducted," John Romero, a spokesman for the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, said after Friday's hearing. "We don't know exactly what that means."

New offshore drilling is barred from most of California's coast. The 36 leases have been extended since they expired, but the areas have never been drilled.

Local and state officials and environmental groups oppose new drilling.

Topics: John Romero
© 2005 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Business News Stories
1 of 30
Vietnamese POW Capt. Myron L. Donald looks smilingly at this wife after returning into her arms
View Caption
Capt. Myron L. Donald looks smilingly at this wife on March 17, 1973 at March Air Force base in California, after he placed a lei around her neck as he deplaned following flight from Clark Air Force base. The former POW from Tucson, Arizona, was held by the North Vietnamese for over five years. (UPI Photo/Files)
fark
Uncertain about naming a warship after a gay rights anti-war activist? You could try asking his...
The 900 dolphins who died off the coast of Peru all perished from natural causes, according to a...
"Child Hugging Priest" told to knock it off, plans to fist kids instead
"Jimmy, I think the school bus is here to pick you up"
Best. Vicar. Ever: four-minute sermons, bring-a-bottle confirmation classes, and if he was too drunk...
Chipotle accused of hiring illegal Mexican immigrants and is the subject of a Federal Investigation...