Interior Department dismisses drilling agency e-mail on shallow-water ban

The Interior Department found itself in a public dispute Thursday with one of its own agencies — the troubled Minerals Management Service — after an MMS official sent an e-mail contradicting the administration’s policy allowing drilling in shallow waters.

The administration has halted new drilling permits in deep waters — greater than 500 feet — for at least six months while a bipartisan commission reviews safety and environmental protections. It recently lifted a ban on shallow-water permits.

But an e-mail Thursday written by an MMS supervisor said that a ban on shallow-water permits remains in effect too.

“[U]ntil further notice we have been informed not to approve or allow any drilling not matter the water depth,” states an e-mail from Michael J. Saucier, an MMS regional supervisor in the Gulf of Mexico, to a company planning a shallow-water drilling project.

The e-mail was obtained by The Hill and other media outlets, several of which reported that the administration had again halted all drilling.

White House and Interior officials said flatly Thursday afternoon, however, that that is not that case, and that there is no ban on new shallow-water permits.

“There is a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling. Shallow-water drilling may continue as long as oil-and-gas operations satisfy the environmental and safety requirements [Interior] Secretary Salazar outlined in his report to the president and have exploration plans that meet those requirements. There is no moratorium on shallow water-drilling,” said Interior spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff.

President Barack Obama, in an interview to be broadcast on CNN Thursday night, also personally knocked down reports that a shallow-water ban remains in effect.

"Actually the moratorium is not extended to the shallow waters," Obama said, according to an excerpt released by CNN.