ConocoPhillips Alaska Construction Blocked Pending Appeal (1)

ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. is temporarily barred from new road construction in Alaska, after a federal court accepted green groups’ concerns about its impact on polar bears in the area.

ConocoPhillips plans to build roads and a gravel mine site as part of its Willow Master Development Plan in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, the Alaska Wilderness League, and other groups argue construction will take place near, and negatively impact, polar bear denning habitat.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates a low likelihood of harm to polar bears of the 30-year project. It calculates an ...