Environmentalists and indigenous groups filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s approval of ConocoPhillips’s $8 billion Willow oil project in Alaska, arguing the government failed to consider smaller, greener options for development.
The filing Tuesday is the opening volley in what’s expected to be a protracted legal battle against one of the largest oil-and-gas projects ever permitted on US federal land. A second group of environmentalists is preparing to file a similar challenge shortly.
The legal challenge in federal district court in Alaska comes one day after the Biden administration approved the project and as ConocoPhillips begins constructing ice roads at the site. It was filed by Trustees for Alaska, on behalf of the Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic, Alaska Wilderness League, Northern Alaska Environmental Center and three other groups.
“The Willow project’s development began in 2017 and has followed a nearly five-year-long regulatory process overseen by the Bureau of Land Management,” said ConocoPhillips spokesperson Dennis Nuss. “We believe the BLM and co-operating agencies have conducted a thorough process that satisfies all legal requirements.”
The Interior Department “attempted to put a shiny gloss over a structurally unsound decision that will, without question, result in a massive fossil fuel project that will reduce access to food and cultural practices for local communities,” Bridget Psarianos, staff attorney for Trustees for Alaska, said in a statement.
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