A U.S. District Court judge in Alaska gave approval Feb. 9 for ConocoPhillips’ $7.5 billion Willow oil project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, parties involved in litigation against the project
The Department of the Interior is scheduled to release its final decision on the project as soon as March 6, and state legislators are only the latest group trying to sway the federal government in the last days before the decision.
Overwhelming public and scientific input has demonstrated the threat this proposal poses to the Arctic region and the people and animals who live there.
Groups Rush to Court to Stop ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project Winter Road Construction and Gravel Mining
ANCHORAGE (AK) Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic and five allied groups filed a motion in U.S. District Court last week requesting a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order to stop ConocoPhillips from starting winter road construction and gravel mining for its Willow project.
“We have experienced rising health issues, and the dismantling of traditional practices and food sources because of oil extraction and industrialization on the Arctic Slope,” said Siqiñiq Maupin, executive director of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic. “We have experienced the silencing and paternalism of public agencies that are supposed to listen to us fully, to understand and take into consideration our concerns, and to protect the health and well-being of all of us, not just the profit interests of corporations. We need the exploitation of the Arctic to stop, and the pr