Conservation groups sue NOAA over Pacific deep-sea mining application

Conservation groups argue NOAA rushed to advance a mining company's bid to explore the ocean floor without letting the public see the materials behind the decision.HONOLULU (CN) — Two conservation groups sued NOAA on Wednesday, arguing the agency allowed a mining company to bypass a legally required public review before approving its application to explore for minerals across a stretch of Pacific seafloor larger than Ohio.The Conservation Council for Hawaii and the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit in federal court in Honolulu against NOAA and its administrator, Dr. Neil Jacobs. They’re challenging NOAA’s May 26 certification of an application by TMC USA for an exploration license.The application covers roughly 121,830 square kilometers in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a mineral-rich expanse of international waters between Hawaii and Mexico. TMC USA wants to search the area for polymetallic nodules, potato-sized rocks on the seafloor that contain nickel, cobalt and other metals used in batteries and electronics.The advocates don’t challenge whether mining should happen there. They challenge how NOAA got to the point of advancing the exploration application.A 1980 law, the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, requires NOAA to make materials related to an application available for public review before approving it. The conservation groups say NOAA did not do that here. Instead, the agency released only a Federal Register notice and TMC USA’s application, much of which was redacted as confidential.“NOAA short-circuited the law in its haste to jump-start an untested, speculative industry seeking to mine our ocean’s most undisturbed places,” said Chris Eaton, an Earthjustice attorney representing the plaintiffs. “We’re asking the courts to pump the brakes to ensure legally required public transparency and accountability before this administration gives mining companies free rein over our oceans.”The groups say they asked NOAA in writing to release the missing materials, including datasets TMC USA’s application said were available “on request.” According to the plaintiffs, NOAA never responded or provided the additional records.They argue that without the missing materials, they could not fully evaluate the four eligibility requirements under DSHMRA, including whether TMC USA has the financial and technical capacity to carry out the work.“Upholding procedural requirements prior to issuing permits for deep-sea mining exploration is imperative to the health of the ocean and the communities that depend on its resources,” said Jonee Peters, executive director of the Conservation Council for Hawaii.“The Pacific Ocean is home to many endangered and unknown species, unexplored ocean floors, and seamounts. These important and fragile ecosystems will be disturbed from noise and light pollution, sediment and other toxic contaminants.”NOAA’s only previous approvals under DSHMRA were four exploration licenses issued in 1984, which have remained largely dormant for decades. The groups’ case concerns the first certification under the current administration and the first application under the law to propose actual exploration at sea. Several other applications are still pending before the agency.No commercial seabed mining operation has ever been established anywhere in the world. The International Seabed Authority, which regulates seabed exploration and mining in international waters under a U.N. treaty that the United States has not ratified, has also not authorized commercial deep-sea mining.“Trump has no right to rush into decisions about plundering international waters,” said Emily Jeffers, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s especially outrageous that the public hasn’t been able to examine the details of this deep-sea mining proposal, which should be completely transparent.”The Clarion-Clipperton Zone is home to deep-sea sponges, corals and other organisms scientists have yet to fully study. Some have already yielded compounds used in cancer and arthritis treatments. Whales, sharks, sea turtles and manta rays also migrate through the area, including populations that pass through Hawaiian waters.Mining and exploration could stir up sediment plumes that smother habitats dozens of miles from the mining site, according to the plaintiffs. Studies cited by the plaintiffs suggest the seafloor could take more than a century to recover. Exploration vessels also create underwater noise and use intense lighting that can harm deep-sea organisms adapted to darkness.They also identify two Native Hawaiian ocean practitioners among the groups’ members: a diver who regards the oceanic whitetip shark as an “aumakua,” or ancestral guardian, and a surfer who watches each year for migrating humpback whales, or kohola, returning to Hawaiian waters.The groups are asking the court to declare NOAA’s certification unlawful, overturn it and keep jurisdiction over the case until the agency complies with the law.NOAA representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads