Environmental Group Plans to Sue EPA, Coast Guard Over Alaska Oil Spill Plan

摘要

Alaska-The Center for Biological Diversity on Nov. 10 sent 60-day notices of intent to sue to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Coast Guard for the agencies' alleged failures to properly consider endangered and threatened species in Alaska oil-spill contingency plans.rnThe spill-response strategies are collected in a single Alaska Unified Plan that was renewed and approved in its latest form in January by the multi-agency Alaska Regional Response Team.rnThe center contends that EPA and the Coast Guard, the federal agencies participating in the plan, failed to adhere to the Endangered Species Act's requirement for consultation on impacts to listed species.rnThe regional plans authorized both the use of oil dis-persants and in situ burning as spill-response methods without evaluating their effects on endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales, endangered Steller sea lions, threatened polar bears, and other Endangered Species Act-listed populations, the center's notice to the agencies said.