ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Paul Bloom, a longtime New Mexico water rights attorney who served as a special counsel in the Energy Department under President Jimmy Carter, died Oct. 9 of pancreatic cancer in Chevy Chase, Md., his daughter, Ester Bloom, said. He was 70.

Paul Bloom worked at New Mexico's Office of the State Engineer for about a dozen years before moving to Washington to work for the Carter administration, Marjorie Bloom said.

Paul Bloom was appointed by then-Energy Secretary James Schlesinger as special counsel to go after the nation's major oil companies for violations of pricing regulations.

By the time he left the position, his office had collected $6 billion from oil companies and had lawsuits and administrative actions that accused the companies of overcharging $11 billion, Marjorie Bloom said.