Lawsuit Challenges U.S. Approval of Deep-sea Mineral Mining

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Landmark Lawsuit Challenges U.S. Approval of Deep-sea Mineral Mining

[ http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/camp ... index.html ]

For Immediate Release, May 13, 2015

Contact: Emily Jeffers, (408) 348-6958 or, ejeffers@biologicaldiversity.org

New Ocean Gold Rush Could Hurt Marine Life Before Impacts Are Known

SAN FRANCISCO— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. government today over its first-ever approval for large-scale deep-sea mining, a destructive project between Hawaii and Mexico that would damage important habitat for whales, sharks and sea turtles and wipe out seafloor ecosystems.

The lawsuit targets the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for issuing and renewing exploratory permits for the work before completing environmental impact studies required by federal law. This is the first major legal challenge to an emerging global industry that is seeking to extract gold, nickel, copper and other increasingly valuable metals and minerals from the seabed beneath international waters.

“Like mountaintop-removal coal mining, deep-sea mining involves massive cutting machines that will leave behind a barren landscape devoid of life,” said Emily Jeffers, the Center attorney who filed the case in federal district court in Washington DC. “Deep-sea mining should be stopped, and this lawsuit aims to compel the government to look at the environmental risks before it leaps into this new frontier. We need to protect the ocean wildlife and habitat, and the United States should provide leadership for other nations to follow before more projects get underway.”

The lawsuit challenges a pair of exploratory permits that were issued to OMCO Seabed Exploration LLC, a subsidiary of defense contractor Lockheed Martin, to pursue mining work in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and Mexico. NOAA issued the first licenses in 1980, but they expired in 2004, and this case challenges their renewal in 2012, which was based on a request from the company.

The deep ocean is believed to contain billions of dollars worth of nickel, copper, cobalt, manganese, zinc, gold and other rare-earth metals and minerals. Extracting those materials has been considered too expensive, difficult and risky for investors, but technological advances and skyrocketing prices for these materials, much of which are used in consumer electronics, have triggered a strong push by the mining industry.

There are now 26 mining permits that have been issued to explore mining, including an active commercial mining operation that has been permitted by Papua New Guinea, the Solwara I project. Most of the permits have been issued through the International Seabed Authority (ISA) for the Clarion-Clipperton Zone which is rich in valuable polymetallic nodules, but the United States asserts claims in the area independent of the multi-nation ISA.

“The rush to strip-mine the deep-ocean floor threatens to damage mysterious underwater ecosystems. If we aren’t careful, this new gold rush could do irreparable harm to the basic building blocks of life,” said Jeffers. “The federal government has a moral duty, as well as a legal one, to understand the full environmental impacts before the mining industry scrapes away our deep-sea resources.”

For more information and to download a copy of the lawsuit, please visit the Center’s Deep-sea Mining webpage and list of FAQs at
[ http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/camp ... index.html ].

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The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 825,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

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Worldwide Pressure on the International Seabed Authority for a Moratorium on Deep Sea Mining: No deep sea mining without civil society consent!

[ http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=c89 ... 4f5ba6ef0e ]

Citizens from all around the world have joined civil society, non government organisations and scientists in calling for a moratorium on deep sea mining.

Deep Sea Mining Campaign – MiningWatch Canada – Earthworks – Oasis Earth – Mineral Policy Institute

July 20, 2015

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Citizens from all around the world have joined civil society, non government organisations and scientists in calling on the International Seabed Authority (ISA) [ https://www.isa.org.jm/ ] to halt issuing further exploration licences and to establish a moratorium on deep sea mining.

Dr Helen Rosenbaum of the Deep Sea Mining Campaign said, “We, along with over 650,000 people internationally [ https://secure.avaaz.org/en/deep_sea_mining_loc/?copy ] call on the ISA and nation states to agree to a moratorium on seabed mining unless and until it is proven safe and there is broad civil society consent for this unprecedented industry.”

The ISA, an intergovernmental body based in Kingston, Jamaica, was established to organise, regulate and control all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. With over 1.5 million square kilometres of ocean floor already under exploration leasehold in the Pacific ocean alone, the ISA has approved 27 exploration licences for deep sea mining.

“It is disappointing that so many exploration licences have been issued without any understanding of the environmental impacts of exploration, let alone exploitation. It also facilitates the development of an industry that does not have the consent of potentially affected communities and wider civil society. This industry has not gained a social licence to operate,” says Dr. Rosenbaum.

Dr. Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada, [http://www.miningwatch.ca/ ] said, “As the global steward of the world’s oceans it is incumbent upon the ISA to protect the world’s already stressed marine ecosystems. The deep sea is one of world’s last ecosystems to have largely escaped devastating impacts of mining, and as an ecosystem that affects all life on earth it must be protected.”

According to Professor Richard Steiner, Conservation Biologist of Oasis Earth, [ http://www.oasis-earth.com/ ] “The issue of deep sea mining is not just for scientists and mining companies. The debate has to be much broader and completely transparent. Presently, the ISA and sponsoring governments receive scientific advice and input primarily from companies with vested interests in a particular policy or regulatory result of the Authority. The authority’s decision making processes must be open to the participation of civil society and independent scientists.”

“Governments and the ISA should take note that the Center for Biological Diversity is suing the United States Government over the granting of exploration permits for the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the absence of environmental impact studies,” stated Dr. Rosenbaum. [ http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news ... -2015.html ]

“There is insufficient scientific data about the impacts of deep sea mining, no regulatory frameworks in place to govern mining operations and the capacity to enforce such frameworks does not yet exist. This landmark legal case will set a precedent for application of the precautionary principle.”

A joint submission was made to the International Seabed Authority on its draft regulatory framework for deep sea mineral exploitation by the Deep Sea Mining Campaign, MiningWatch Canada, Earthworks, Oasis Earth and the Mineral Policy Institute. [ http://www.deepseaminingoutofourdepth.o ... ission.pdf ]

The ISA’s 21st annual session in Jamaica began July 14 and ends July 24, 2015.

For more information:

Dr. Helen Rosenbaum (Australia), hrose[at]vic.chariot.net.au +61 413 201 793
Dr. Catherine Coumans (Canada), catherine[at]miningwatch.ca +1 613 569 3439
Professor Richard Steiner (Alaska), richard.g.steiner[at]gmail.com +1 907 360 4503

See also Dr. Coumans' backgrounder "Deep Sea Mining – A new frontier for ecosystem destruction" - July 20, 2015
[ http://www.miningwatch.ca/blog/deep-sea ... estruction ]

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