Green Groups Sue to Block Drilling in Alaska Reserve
Tue February 17, 2004 03:14 PM ET
(Page 1 of 2)
By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Environmental groups on Tuesday sued to block the Bush administration from opening millions more acres in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling.
The Interior Department last month finalized a plan to make the vast majority of an 8.8 million acre portion in the northwest area of the reserve available for drilling.
However, a coalition of green groups --- including the National Audubon Society, The Wilderness Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, Alaska Wilderness League and the Sierra Club -- filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Alaska to stop the drilling.
The groups said the administration ignored several federal laws intended to protect key wildlife areas in the reserve for polar bears, caribou, wolves, grizzly bears and migrating birds and it did not adequately study the likely harm that drilling will cause.
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