Oil exploration tests off Alaska prompt lawsuit

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, May 5 (Reuters) - A coalition of environmental and Alaska Native groups on Monday filed a lawsuit seeking to block the oil industry from conducting seismic tests the groups say will harm whales, walruses and other marine mammals in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, targets permits issued to Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) by the U.S. Minerals Management Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Shell holds permits to survey areas of the Arctic Ocean for potential new oil sources, and BP has a permit to survey the area around its Liberty prospect in the Beaufort Sea.

The main threats from seismic tests are the loud, repeated blasts made by air guns used to map out undersea geologic formations and seafloor conditions, environmentalists say.

"They're far louder than sound levels that can injure, that can literally deafen marine mammals," said Brendan Cummings, oceans program manager for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs in the case.

Other plaintiffs include the Native Village of Point Hope, the Alaska Wilderness League and the National Resources Defense Council.

Cummings said that other threats come from the presence of a fleet of vessels needed to conduct the tests. There are risks of leaks and oil spills, a potential for ship strikes injuring swimming mammals and disturbances that could scare animals away from their migration and feeding areas, he said.

With the oil industry rushing to tap Alaska's offshore regions, this year is shaping up as the busiest offshore seismic seasons since the 1980s in the Chukchi and Beaufort, according to the lawsuit.