Environmentalists sue feds over Western Arctic drilling approvals

The plaintiffs claim the Bureau of Land Management didn’t go through proper public procedure before authorizing an oil and gas drilling project on public lands.(CN) — Two conservation groups and a grassroots organization tied to Indigenous Alaskans sued the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management on Thursday after a November approval by the bureau opened the Western Arctic to exploration drilling and testing.The Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Wilderness Society claims the bureau’s authorization of oil and gas company ConocoPhillips to start seismic testing within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska — the nation’s largest region of public land — was done without the appropriate public process.The approvals allow bulldozers and “thumper trucks” to hit the ground with a large plate that sends seismic waves to detect oil deposits. The fossil fuel giant also plans to drill four exploratory wells near its Willow Project, with the groups claiming the company keeps expanding further west into the reserve.In the 39-page complaint, the plaintiffs say the project is likely to cause harm to Alaska’s fragile ecosystems, subsistence resources for Alaska Native communities and wildlife, including caribou, polar bears and birds.“For generations, our people have carried the weight of decisions made without our consent,” Nauri Simmonds, executive director of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, said in a statement.“Each new project compounds decades of human rights violations and cultural degradation, deepening divides within our communities and eroding the bonds that sustain us,” she said. “Even among our own Iñupiat relatives who support oil development, there is recognition that some places are too important to risk, too vital to our way of life to be sacrificed. ConocoPhillips’ exploration program is not only an assault on caribou and tundra — it is another chapter in the enfoldment of our people into systems designed to fracture us from within.”The plaintiffs claim the bureau pushed the program in the 23-million-acre reserve through without proper analysis to the impacts of the exploration. The plaintiffs further claim the bureau had other options for curbing the impacts but approved it anyway.The conservationists and Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic are suing under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, which charges the Department of the Interior with protecting the region and the Administrative Procedure Act. They also ask for an injunction to ensure the defendants comply with the acts.“BLM’s decision violates the Reserves Act because it fails to rationally explain how approving the exploration program, which the record shows will result in significant adverse impacts, is consistent with BLM’s obligation to protect surface resources from such impacts,” the plaintiffs write in the suit.Brian Hires, press secretary for the Bureau of Land Management, declined in an email to comment on pending litigation.The plaintiffs, represented by Earthjustice attorneys, said the public had only one week for public comment on the exploration program, during the federal shutdown, and the proposal was released on Nov. 10, a day before a federal holiday. The plaintiffs noted the approval was issued on Nov. 26, a day before another federal holiday.“BLM is jamming through approval of this poorly designed program without regard for proper process or for the integrity of this vital ecosystem and the people who depend on it,” Earthjustice attorney Ian Dooley said in a statement. “We’re suing to hold BLM accountable to federal laws and to prevent harm to resources and values that cannot be undone. The Arctic is an irreplaceable resource for people and wildlife and should remain that way for future generations.”Overall, the plaintiffs said, the Alaskan wilderness is at a crucial point of climate crisis, with the Arctic warming four times faster than the rest of the world. Extraction of oil and gas, the plaintiffs said, along with the emissions from fossil fuels leading to loss of snow cover, permafrost and ice, create dangerous feedback loops and harm humans and other living beings.“The Western Arctic is not just land to be leased,” Simmonds said. “It is the heart of our culture, our food security, and our survival.”Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing
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