Greenpeace files suit to block BP Arctic oil project
© 2000 Reuters Limited
March 31, 2000
Story by Richard Valdmanis
NEW YORK - Environmental group Greenpeace said it and six Inupiat Eskimos filed a lawsuit on Thursday to block the first offshore oil project in the U.S. Arctic because of what they said was oil giant BP Amoco's inadequate oil spill response plan.
The suit, filed in the San Francisco Court of Appeals, alleges that BP Amoco has an inadequate oil spill response plan for the Northstar project, and says that approval for the 65,000 barrel per day project was granted in violation of environmental protection laws."I think we have a very strong case," Greenpeace spokesman Steve Sawyer said. "The Inupiat who are participating in the filing are representative of a wide cross section of the local community who are concerned about their environment."
BP Amoco officials overseeing the project claim they are going above and beyond to prevent any oil spills at the Northstar installation, which is currently under construction six miles off the coast of Alaska's North Slope and may begin producing next year.
The suit is one of a series of attempts by Greenpeace to stop Northstar. Previous protests have occured in Washington and at BP Amoco's U.S. headquarters in Chicago, where activists dressed up as polar bears.
Greenpeace has also forced a shareholder vote at BP Amoco's annual meeting in London next month on whether the company should abandon its Arctic oil plans in favour of its solar projects.