—The federal government is seeking to have a court reinstate a moratorium on deepwater drilling. In a filing with the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, the government argued for the reversal of a judge’s ruling that the Interior Department failed to provide adequate reasoning for the six-month halt to drilling. A lawsuit against the moratorium was filed by Hornbeck Offshore, an oil field service company that claims it would have severe economic consequences.
—Sen. Mary Landrieu is pushing for up to $1 billion a year to restore Louisiana’s battered and oily coastline. But President Barack Obama’s point man in the Gulf says the administration is not yet ready to commit such an amount. Louisiana has lost 2,300 square miles of coastal wetlands since the 1930s because of canals dug for energy exploration, hurricanes and levees along the Mississippi River.
—The U.S. Attorney General’s office has asked BP for advance notice of any asset sales or significant cash transfers, the company said. Normally, the Justice Department doesn’t require advance notification of such deals. The letter, from U.S. Assistant Attorney General Tony West, underscores the federal government’s intense scrutiny of BP as it struggles to cap the leak in the Gulf.
—Choppy seas held up oil skimming operations all along the Gulf coast, although boats off Louisiana’s shoreline hoped to be back at work before the day ended. In Mobile, Coast Guard Cmdr. Chuck Diorio said waves were seven feet off the sea buoy in places, well above the four feet that serves as the upper limit for most skimmers. Rough waves have halted offshore skimming in Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana for over a week.
—BP’s embattled CEO flew to Abu Dhabi and met with the wealthy emirate’s influential crown prince amid speculation the oil giant is looking to raise cash as costs mount to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.
—The federal government would be required to do more stringent monitoring and research of undersea oil plumes from the massive Gulf spill under legislation proposed Wednesday by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson. Nelson said the law would require the National Weather Service to develop a detailed plan for keeping track of and attacking the suspended subsurface plumes from the Deepwater Horizon gusher.
—-Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected].