ConocoPhillips Alaska Drilling Challenge Ruled Moot on Appeal

A lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s approval of a petroleum drilling exploration program for ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. is moot because the company completed the program shortly after the complaint was filed, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday.

Courts aren’t able to give any relief to the plaintiffs, including groups concerned about the program’s environmental impact, because the only lasting physical features of the drilling were capped wells, and there was no indication the company could undo the drilling of those wells, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said.

The plaintiffs said the agency violated the Administrative ...