Groups again file suit against Chukchi drilling
Environmental and local Northwest Alaska groups have again filed suit in an attempt to block offshore oil and gas exploration in the Chukchi Sea.
New court filings from the groups contend that the 2008 lease sale of the areas now slated for drilling did not follow established environmental laws.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar concluded last month that the Bureau of Oceans and Energy Management had met the sale's shortcomings identified by a federal judge when it submitted supplemental environmental review material.
But the plaintiffs argue, among other things, that information about how exploration will affect the wildlife that local populations depend on is still lacking.
Mike LeVine, an attorney for Oceana, one of the plaintiffs, told The Associated Press by phone that agency officials have contradicted themselves about how important such information gaps are. In announcing a new five-year offshore leasing plan last week, Interior officials said they would hold Arctic Ocean sales late in the five-year time frame to allow for scientific evaluations in the “frontier” drilling area.
“On the other hand, it’s gone out and said it doesn’t need any more information to affirm its decision to sell the leases from 2008,” LeVine said. “It’s inconsistent.”
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