Library Search

Document October 2, 2023

ONC et al Appeal of State Water Rights Permits, Donlin Mine

Orutsararmiut Native Council (ONC) and the Native Village of Eek today filed an appeal in the Alaska Supreme Court to review a lower court decision upholding 12 state water rights permits for the Donlin Gold Mine project.

In the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The Kuskokwim River provides a critical source of wild food and serves as a bedrock of identity and cultural values for Alaska Native Tribal citizens and community members living downstream from the Donlin mine site. (Dave Cannon)
Press Release October 2, 2023

Southwest Alaska Tribes File Two Separate State Appeals Challenging the Donlin Gold Mine

State of Alaska agencies failed to fully consider harmful impacts of the massive gold mine when issuing water permits and a water quality certificate

Stikine River (Michael Penn)
Press Release September 21, 2023

Transboundary Mining in British Columbia May Violate Human Rights, Says Inter-American Commission

Petition from the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC) addresses Canada’s failure to regulate and prevent threats from large-scale mining operations in British Columbia

Document September 18, 2023

IACHR Report on Admissibility for SEITC Petition

Decision by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to admit a petition from Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC), alleging that Canada’s failure to regulate and prevent threats from large-scale mining operations in British Columbia constitutes a violation of SEITC member Tribes’ internationally recognized human rights.

Press Release September 6, 2023

Earthjustice Celebra Cancelación De Ofertas Para Exploración en Refugios En El Ártico Y Otras Acciones Propuestas

La administración Biden cancela ofertas ilegales y abre nuevos procesos que podrían preservar las preciadas tierras árticas en Alaska, pero se necesita más para abordar la mayor amenaza climática: más perforaciones en los arrendamientos de petróleo y gas existentes en el Ártico occidental.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the Brooks Range mountains, Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / Getty Images)
Update: Victory September 6, 2023

In Big Win for Arctic, Government Cancels Illegal Oil Leases in Alaska

Earthjustice has advocated for decades in courts and Congress to protect these lands.

The 19 million acres of tundra, rivers and mountains of the Arctic Refuge shelter migratory birds from all 50 states and six continents each summer. To the Gwich'in people of northeast Alaska, this is sacred ground. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Press Release September 6, 2023

Earthjustice Celebrates Cancellation of Arctic Refuge Leases and Proposed Future Actions

Biden administration cancels illegal leases and opens new processes that could preserve cherished Arctic lands in Alaska. More is needed to tackle the biggest climate threat: further oil drilling on existing oil and gas leases in the Western Arctic 

A bald eagle lands in the snow at the edge of the Chilkat River, near Haines, Alaska. In this area is the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, where thousands of bald eagles gather to feast on the last runs of coho and chum salmon—a globally unique phenomenon. (Sergei Uryadnikov / Getty Images)
Press Release August 21, 2023

State of Alaska Upholds Weak Mining Wastewater Permit While Requiring Additional Safeguards for Water Quality in the Chilkat River Watershed

In a partial win for the Chilkat Indian Village, salmon and conservation groups, additional water quality analysis is now required to safeguard against mining

Document August 21, 2023

Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Decision, Palmer Project Mining Waste Management Permit for Exploratory Drilling

In a final agency decision issued on an administrative appeal, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) upheld a flawed waste management permit for exploratory drilling at the Palmer Project mine in Southeast Alaska while also determining that more work must be done to ensure Alaska’s water quality standards are not exceeded due to wastewater from the mining project.

Surrounded by temperate rainforest, a vacant U.S. Forest Service bunkhouse has been selected as the site of a healing center. (Rebecca Bowe / Earthjustice)
Article August 16, 2023

Where a Logging Camp Once Stood, a Center for Healing Takes Root

In Kake, Alaska, protecting a temperate rainforest means protecting a way of life.

Endangered beluga whale, photographed during a hexacopter photogrammetry study of the Cook Inlet population. (Paul Wade / NOAA Fisheries)
Press Release August 11, 2023

Lawsuit Challenges Federal Approval of Alaska LNG Exports

Energy Department export approval failed to fully assess project’s climate, environmental harms

Document August 11, 2023

Petition for Review, DOE Approval of Alaska LNG Exports

Conservation groups sued the federal government today for approving exports from the Alaska LNG Project, which would transport gas from Alaska’s North Slope to Asia. The lawsuit challenges the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) export approval for failing to fully assess the project’s climate and environmental harms.

Endangered beluga whale, photographed during a hexacopter photogrammetry study of the Cook Inlet population. (Paul Wade / NOAA Fisheries)
case August 11, 2023

Alaska LNG Project

Proposed by the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC), an Alaska state-owned corporation, the $38.7 billion fossil-fuel infrastructure project to export liquified methane gas involves constructing an 807-mile pipeline that would bisect the state from north to south, spanning a distance roughly the width of Texas. Construction would affect 35,474 acres of land, 45% of which…

The Kuskokwim River. (Peter Griffith / NASA)
Press Release August 2, 2023

City of Bethel Seeks to Join Tribal Lawsuit to Revise Groundfish Management

The legal challenge aims to reexamine management of groundfish trawlers to better protect Yukon-Kuskokwim salmon runs

Document August 2, 2023

Bethel City Council Resolution, NMFS Groundfish Lawsuit

The Bethel City Council Passed a resolution directing the City to join as amicus or intervenor in pending federal litigation supporting an updated environmental impact statement and fisheries management plan for groundfish management in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

Document August 2, 2023

City of Bethel’s Memo in Support of Motion to Intervene, NMFS Groundfish Lawsuit

 The City of Bethel is requesting permission from Alaska’s U.S. District Court to join in a federal lawsuit seeking to revise groundfish management to better protect subsistence salmon fishing in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region.

Document August 2, 2023

City of Bethel Motion to Intervene, NMFS Groundfish Lawsuit

 The City of Bethel is requesting permission from Alaska’s U.S. District Court to join in a federal lawsuit seeking to revise groundfish management to better protect subsistence salmon fishing in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region.

Document August 2, 2023

City of Bethel Complaint in Intervention NMFS Groundfish Lawsuit

The City of Bethel is requesting permission from Alaska’s U.S. District Court to join in a federal lawsuit seeking to revise groundfish management to better protect subsistence salmon fishing in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region.