An environmental nonprofit organization filed a notice of intent on Friday to sue the federal government if it did not immediately investigate the threat of offshore oil drilling to California's wildlife, and suspend new drilling operations in the interim.
The letter was sent by the Tucson, Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity to the U.S. Bureaus of Ocean Energy Management and Safety and Enivronmental Enforcement in response to a pipeline rupture off the coast of Orange County last weekend that leaked hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean.
The letter claimed the federal government's risk analysis under the Endangered Species Act was not sufficient to plan or predict for an oil spill of that magnitude.
"These dead, oil-soaked birds and fish are gruesome proof of offshore drilling's harm to wildlife, and federal officials never saw it coming," said Kristen Monsell, Oceans Legal Director at the center.
The bureaus on the receiving end of the letter, and a possible lawsuit, manage and issue permits for offshore oil and gas drilling in federally-administered ocean waters. They are required by the Endangered Species Act to conduct impact studies of these operations on threatened species and their habitats.
The Trump administration completed an analysis under the act for oil and gas drilling off the California coast in 2017. That analysis found that oil spills were unlikely, but if one did occur it would be limited to 8,400 gallons, according to the center.
The letter alleged that the O.C. oil spill far exceeded the scope of that analysis, with officials estimating as many as 132,000 galllons leaked since the pipeline rupture was first reported.
The center has voiced particular concern for the area impacted by the oil spill, as it has been designated a critical habitat for humpback whales.
The letter sought to compel the government to suspend approval for all new drilling permits off California's coast—something already promised by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week—while the bureaus reevaluate the impacts of such operations on endangered species and their habitats.
The notice of intent to sue is required before the center can file a federal lawsuit demanding the Biden administration to comply with the Endangered Species Act.
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