Jackson Free Press

Environmental groups want more time to study the effects of opening the Mississippi Sound to oil and gas drilling.

Thursday, the Mississippi Sierra Club and Gulf Restoration Network filed an appeal in Hinds County Chancery Court of leasing rules the Mississippi Development Authority issued for selling oil and gas leases.

In the filing, the environmentalists argue the MDA rules, issued Feb. 15, are invalid because the MDA neglected to prepare a "valid" economic impact statement, and because MDA did not analyze and respond to all public comments.

The Gulf Restoration Network and Sierra Club also indicate in their filing that the rules commit public resources to private development, which they allege violate the public-trust doctrine.

"We feel that litigation is an option of last resort, but MDA has forced us into that position at this point," said Mississippi Sierra Club President Louie Miller on a conference call with reporters Thursday.

Robert Wiygul, whose firm, Waltzer & Wiygul, will handle the litigation for the two organizations, said his clients want "a modicum of common sense to be applied" in the case and for the MDA to assemble and present all the information the agency considered in preparing its rules.

In mid-December 2011, then-Gov. Haley Barbour directed the MDA to prepare rules for leasing state-controlled waters off the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Boundaries the Legislature set in 2004 would prohibit drilling between the mainland and barrier islands and within one mile south of the barrier islands, creating a two-mile-wide strip at least 10 miles away from the coast where drilling companies would be able to lease.

The state has long maintained that opening state waters to oil and gas drilling represents a potential windfall for jobs and economic development. The former MDA executive director wrote a letter before stepping down from the post in which he estimated the state could collect between $241 million and $523 million in royalties, with more than 97.5 percent going to the state's education trust fund.

Opponents of drilling in the Gulf say the presence of industrial activity will scare away tourists from the state's coastal areas and barrier islands.

Jeffrey K. Bounds, an MIT-trained engineer, conducted an analysis that concluded that even if one in 20 visitors--5 percent--stay away from the Gulf Coast, the loss of state tourism revenue over the life of the reserve would amount to $168.5 million d, wiping away the state's anticipated revenues from sales of oil and gas leases.

MDA spokesman Dan Turner said in an email this morning that he hasn't seen the filing and has no comment.