http://www.pattonboggs.com/ en-us Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:55:15 GMT Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:55:15 GMT The Deepwater Horizon explosion, fire, sinking, and well blowout demonstrated the failure of BP’s contingency plans for a worstcase accident. Congressional hearings in June strongly suggested that some of the other plans currently in place in the Gulf of Mexico would not work any better. These plans use much the same language as BP’s, and contain similar errors, errors showing use of an Alaskan template without adequate updates of personnel or adaptation to local flora and fauna. The government’s repeated approval of these plans suggest that regulators were not just asleep but comatose. http://www.pattonboggs.com/news/Detail.aspx?news=1265 News http://www.pattonboggs.com/news/Detail.aspx?news=1265 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT Those in the manufacturing, mining, real estate and financing businesses should check the authoritative ABA review of the Superfund and natural resource damage developments in 2009. Patton Boggs partner, Russ Randle, recently co-authored the American Bar Association’s Year in Review Article about Superfund and Natural Resource Damages, which appeared in May 2010. http://www.pattonboggs.com/news/Detail.aspx?news=1191 News http://www.pattonboggs.com/news/Detail.aspx?news=1191 Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT On June 8, 2010, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the U.S. Department of Interior issued a directive to lessees and operators of federal oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf requiring immediate implementation of certain new safety requirements, including two mandatory certifications of compliance to be signed by the operator’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”). The directive, specifically entitled Notice to Lessees and Operators of Federal Oil and Gas Leases, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), NTL No. 2010-N05, “Increased Safety Measures for Energy Development on the OCS,” was issued in response to the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill incident in the Gulf of Mexico. This so-called “Safety NTL” applies to shallow operations as well as deepwater operations, which is in sharp contrast to the MMS’s earlier NTL issued on May 30, 2010 establishing a six-month moratorium on deepwater (greater than 500 feet) drilling operations and related activity. http://www.pattonboggs.com/news/Detail.aspx?news=1188 News http://www.pattonboggs.com/news/Detail.aspx?news=1188 Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT In a controversial opinion issued on October 16, 2009, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that private property owners could pursue state common law nuisance claims against major greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emitters for allegedly contributing to climate change that increased the intensity of Hurricane Katrina. See Comer v. Murphy Oil Co., No. 07-60756, October 16, 2009 (“Comer I”). The Fifth Circuit’s original decision was discussed in our November 6, 2009 Energy/Environmental Alert, “Impact of Recent Litigation on the Climate Change Debate.” http://www.pattonboggs.com/news/Detail.aspx?news=1177 News http://www.pattonboggs.com/news/Detail.aspx?news=1177 Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT