Suits ask injunctions to block Coastal Plain lease sale, seismic

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

Two suits were filed Dec. 15 against plans by the U.S. Department of the Interior to offer oil and gas leases on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 6. The suits also contest winter seismic exploration on the Coastal Plain, for which Interior’s Bureau of Land Management released an environmental assessment Dec. 16 (see story in this issue).

The suits filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska ask for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt and the North Slope Borough (case in which the Gwich’in Steering Committee is the lead plaintiff) and for a preliminary injunction against Bernhardt and the Alaska Oil and Gas Association (case in which the National Audubon Society is the lead plaintiff).

“The Department of the Interior and BLM rushed their environmental review and adopted an extensive and harmful leasing program that is inconsistent with numerous laws and regulations,” plaintiffs’ attorneys said in the Gwich’in case

Plaintiffs in one suit, represented by Trustees for Alaska, are the Gwich’in Steering Committee and numerous environmental organizations, among them the Alaska Wilderness League, Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society-Yukon, Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges and the Alaska Environmental Center.

Plaintiffs in the other are the National Audubon Society et al., represented by attorneys with Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The suits ask rulings by Jan. 6, the date set for the Coastal Plain lease sale.

In the Gwich’in Steering Committee case, plaintiffs argue for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction and tell the court they are likely to succeed on the merits and will suffer irreparable harm should the sale and seismic go ahead.

Plaintiffs note that on Nov. 17 BLM issued a notice requesting public comment by Dec. 17 on the lease sale, then issued a notice 10 days before the end of the public comment period setting the Jan. 6 lease sale.

“The leases constitute an irretrievable commitment of resources,” the Gwich’in suit argues. “Once issued, BLM no longer has full authority to deny or limit activities on the leases by their terms, even if there are significant impacts.”

In the case brought by the National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth, attorneys told the court: “An injunction is necessary to halt the Interior Department’s headlong rush to develop the Arctic Refuge before this Court can determine the legality of those efforts.”

- KRISTEN NELSON