Group Sues to Block U.S. Offshore Oil, Gas Leasing

A group of environmentalists sued the Interior Department on Thursday in an effort to halt its offshore oil and gas leasing plan, calling the proposal “an attack on our nation’s natural heritage.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals here, contends that Secretary of the Interior Donald P. Hodel neglected to consider the effect that drilling on the outer continental shelf could have on the nation’s coastal areas.

Environmentalists are concerned that offshore drilling would be especially hazardous to the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington, Georges Bank off New England, Bristol Bay in Alaska and the Florida Keys.

“Our lawsuit seeks to protect these incredibly valuable coastal areas from the risks posed by oil drilling under Hodel’s plan,” said Sarah Chasis, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit.

The environmentalists want the court to void the plan and force the Interior Department to revise it.

The plan, which Hodel approved on July 2, would last for five years and prohibit drilling on 46% of the country’s outer continental shelf. But Hodel said that exploring the rest of the area is necessary.

Interior spokesman Bob Walker said accusations that the government is jeopardizing sensitive environmental areas are premature because the department has not decided where to allow drilling. He said that before a sale can be made, studies must be conducted that take at least two years.

Walker said the leases are essential if the United States is to maintain some energy independence. He cited an Energy Department study predicting that during the 1990s the United States could depend on outside sources for half of its oil.

The lawsuit, however, says government and other studies have shown that drilling in areas covered by the plan would generate, at most, enough oil to supply the country for 41 days.