(Anchorage, AK) – Monday, a U.S. District Court Judge denied initial attempts by environmental groups to halt the Willow Project concluding that the balance of the equities and the public interest tip sharply against preliminary injunctive relief for the plaintiffs. Construction activities, including gravel work, are expected to begin on Willow tomorrow.
“This Court order validates Alaska’s high standards for the environment when it comes to oil production. It is also responsive to the unifying bilateral support demonstrated in our Alaska Legislature and from our Congressional Delegation, said Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy. “Alaskans understand that Willow will reinvigorate the Alaska economy with jobs, billions in State and local taxes and grants to North Slope communities.”
If Willow proceeds and produces according to projections, up to $4 billion is estimated to go into a development impact mitigation fund for grants for Alaska residents living near the development.
Up to 2,500 construction jobs and some 300 permanent jobs are projected to be created from Willow.
“It is heartening to hear that the Willow project can move forward, while we have to continue fighting this lawsuit. This will mean progress and jobs for Alaskans,” said Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor.
The Willow Project is an oil development, estimated to produce more than 600 million barrels over 30 years and is described as the largest project in size and scale to be developed on the North Slope in more than 20 years.
The state of Alaska filed to intervene last week and filed oppositions to the preliminary injunction motions on Willow by the plaintiffs: Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic, Alaska Wilderness League, Environment America, Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Sierra Club, and The Wilderness Society.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason denied the plaintiffs’ motion for temporary restraining order and two preliminary injunction motions.
In the order the Court wrote: “In this regard, the Court considers the fact that the Alaska House and Senate unanimously adopted a resolution on February 20, 2023, stating that “a further delay in approval or construction of the Willow project . . . is not in the public interest. … Alaska’s Congressional delegation has also expressed its unanimous support of the Willow Project and specifically their support for the construction activities proposed for this winter.169 In the amicus brief filed by the Alaska Congressional Delegation and Alaska State Legislature, they assert that “[i]t is uncontested that an injunction would kill many Alaskan jobs and deprive Alaskans of direct and indirect economic benefits associated with imminent development activities. ”Moreover, allowing the Winter 2023 Construction Activities to proceed would be consistent with the Congressional directive to the Secretary of Interior to conduct “an expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the NPR-A.”
The State joined the case with defendants ConocoPhillips, the North Slope Borough, Arctic Regional Slope Corporation (ASRC), and Kuukpik Corporation. The State serves the broader interests of the residents of the state as a sovereign landowner in the development of natural resources.
Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic challenged the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (“BLM”) record of decision (“ROD”) on the Willow Master Development Plan (“MDP”) and related federal actions. The Willow MDP authorizes ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. to construct and operate infrastructure necessary to allow production and transportation to market of oil and gas from ConocoPhillips’ leases in the Bear Tooth Unit, commonly known as the Willow Project, in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (“NPR-A”).
- U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason’s Order – PDF(379KB)
Willow Project Construction to Begin, U.S. District Court Judge Denies Environmentalists’ Initial Efforts to Halt Project added by Alaska Department of Law on
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