US Court Halts Alaska Activity

摘要

All activity on oil and gas leases in the Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska must cease until federal regulators complete a review of how the drilling would impact the environment, a federal judge in Anchorage ruled Wednesday. US District Court Judge Ralph Beistline, ruling in a lawsuit filed by several environmental and Alaska Native organizations, said the Minerals Management Service (MMS) failed to abide by federal environmental law when it sold $2.66 billion worth of leases in the Chukchi in 2008, mostly to Royal Dutch Shell.