Environmental Groups Plan Appeal for Drilling Ban

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – Catherine Wannamaker of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Atlanta, Georgia, says the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is evidence of what is not known about the drilling industry.

"There's systemic risk that we didn't know about before and we're only learning now how we might be able to prevent those and to adequately respond if we do have a blowout, which we haven't been able to do to this disaster."

A federal judge in New Orleans blocked a six-moratorium imposed by the Interior Department on 33 exploratory drilling wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Industry supply companies argued that one accident is not reason to assume the drilling itself poses an imminent danger. Wannamaker says she expects to join in the government's appeal.
For NPR News, I'm Eileen Fleming in New Orleans.