9th Circuit denies Greenpeace challenge to Northstar oil

by The Associated Press

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a challenge to the development of the Northstar oil field in the Beaufort Sea.

The environmental group Greenpeace and a group of North Slope Natives had argued that the Environmental Impact Statement for the project approved by the Minerals Management Service was inadequate. The group also said BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. did not have an adequate oil spill response plan for the project.

In a ruling handed down Sept. 25, the court said that the EIS "reasonably documented the environmental effects of Northstar." The three-judge panel denied a request to review the Department of Interior's approval of the project.

The judges dismissed the group's complaint about the adequacy of BP's oil spill response plan, saying the U.S. District Court, not the 9th Circuit, had jurisdiction under the federal Oil Pollution Act to review the spill response plan.

A complete text of the decision for Edwardsen vs. U.S. Department of the Interior, 99-71397, may be found on the U.S. Courts for the Ninth

Circuit homepage at www.ce9.uscourts.gov.