JUNEAU (AP) — The state corporation that paid $12 million in public funds for federal oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the final days of the Trump administration is suing federal officials over what it calls improper actions that are preventing activities on the lands.
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority alleges federal officials have overstepped the law in suspending lease-related activities.
The lease sale was held in January, shortly before President Joe Biden took office. Soon after taking office, Biden ordered a review of the controversial leases. The Bureau of Land Management in August announced it would undertake a new environmental review of the sale.
The state corporation was the largest bidder for the leases, winning most of the tracts it wanted. The only other bidders were a small Australia-based oil company and an Alaska developer with no oil or gas experience.
Though Alaska’s elected officials have for years promoted exploration and development in ANWR, no major oil and gas company submitted any bids for the leases.
Alaska political leaders, including Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, the all-Republican congressional delegation, and most statewide elected officials over the years, have supported opening the coastal plain of the refuge to development, and a federal law passed in 2017 called for two lease sales. Drilling supporters have characterized development as a way to boost oil production and generate revenue for the state and federal treasuries.
But critics have argued the area, which provides habitat for wildlife including caribou, polar bears and birds, should be off-limits to drilling, and some would like to see the provisions of law calling for lease sales repealed. The Indigenous Gwich’in consider the coastal plain sacred and have expressed concern about impacts to a caribou herd they rely on for subsistence.
In June, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said her review had found “multiple legal deficiencies” in the record supporting the leases, including an environmental review that failed to “adequately analyze a reasonable range of alternatives.” She directed a temporary halt on department activities related to the leasing program until a new review was completed.
The Alaska state corporation alleges federal officials “have engaged in a politically driven, systematic campaign to prevent any Coastal Plain development.”
The lawsuit was filed Nov. 4.
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