Reply #4: Obama imposes 7-year drilling ban in eastern Gulf of Mexico

[Turborama]

Source: CNN

President Barack Obama will not be allowing new drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico for at least seven years, according to a senior administration official.

The ban is being imposed as a result of the April 20 explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf that killed 11 people and triggered one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.

An estimated 4.9 million barrels (206 million gallons) of oil gushed into the Gulf before the broken well, 5,000 feet below the surface, was capped.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is scheduled to hold a briefing on the decision at 1:30 p.m. ET Wednesday.

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/01/obama.gulf.drilling/