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Even as oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, federal regulators signed off on a new oil well to be drilled a mere 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana.
The new well is the first to have been green-lighted by the Minerals Management Service since President Obama lifted the ban, according to the Associated Press. In light of the Gulf leak, now the largest in history, the president extended the moratorium on deep water wells (like the one that exploded April 20 in the Gulf), but let the ban on shallow water wells expire.
The well is slated to be drilled 50 miles off the coast of the Bayou state and 115 feet below the surface.
The AP says the company, Brandon Oil and Gas, first sought the permit in April not long after the Deepwater Horizon sank.