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By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Departmentwill not be held in contempt over its actions in the aftermathof the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill after the U.S. SupremeCourt declined on Monday to review an appeals court ruling inthe government's favor.
The nine justices refused to hear an appeal filed byHornbeck Offshore Services LLC, a drilling company subsidiary ofHornbeck Offshore Services Inc, and other businessesaffected by a moratorium on deep sea drilling that the federalgovernment imposed in May 2010. The federal appeals court rulingthat overturned a federal district judge's contempt findingremains intact.
In April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon rig, owned byTransocean Ltd and leased by BP PLC ,exploded, causing 11 deaths and a massive oil spill.
The Interior Department's temporary drilling moratorium wasimmediately challenged by the drilling industry, prompting U.S.District Judge Martin Feldman of the Eastern District ofLouisiana to rule in June 2010 that the government could notenforce it.
Despite the court order, the moratorium remained in effectin a modified fashion until October 2010.
The following year, Feldman held the government in contemptfor violating his order and said it must pay almost $530,000 inlegal fees to the companies that challenged the moratorium.
In an April 2013 ruling, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S.Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Feldman's ruling. It said thatalthough the government had violated the spirit of his order,its actions did not technically violate it. The companies thensought high court review.
The case is Hornbeck v. Jewell, U.S. Supreme Court, No.13-56.
