Groups Again Urge Willow Project Pause as Construction Resumes

Indigenous and environmental groups renewed their requests to the Ninth Circuit to pause construction activities for the Willow oil project in Alaska while their appeals continue.

They asked the appellate court on Dec. 29 to enter an injunction as soon as possible to prevent “irreparable harm” from construction after ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. “reinitiated ground-disturbing” activities on Dec. 23.

The groups reiterated concerns over members’ subsistence and recreational interests as well as impacts to the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska—including wetlands, wildlife and the people who rely on the area’s natural resources. They had sought emergency injunctions before construction was set to resume, ...