Environmental groups sue over Shell offshore plan

Lawsuits filed Thursday that challenge the federal government's approval of a Shell Oil Co. offshore exploration plan present a major test of regulators' power to swiftly review deep-water drilling blueprints. In two separate but overlapping filings, conservationists argue the government was bound by federal law to first finish a post-spill environmental study of the Gulf of Mexico before approving Shell's plan last month. The legal complaints were filed in the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals — one by the Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity and the Natural Resources Defense Council and the other by Earthjustice, the Gulf Restoration Network, the Florida Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club. The Defenders of Wildlife coalition alleges that by approving Shell's exploration plan, the government violated the National Environmental Policy Act and several other federal laws that generally require environmental studies and coordination with other agencies before actions they take that could hurt marine life or affect the environment. Earthjustice's more limited challenge focuses on the environmental policy law. The litigation carries high stakes for the government and the oil and gas industry...more