Environmental groups have asked a federal court to order FERC to vacate its authorization for the proposed Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, arguing the Commission did not adequately review the development’s environmental impacts.

In a petition filed last week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC), the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission “shirked” its obligation “to take a hard look at the project’s harmful environmental impacts at nearly every turn” in compiling the environmental impact statement (EIS) that informed the 2020 authorization.

The CBD filed the petition on behalf of itself and other groups including the Sierra Club and Earthjustice. 

The estimated $38.7 billion