Environmental groups sue Trump administration over approval of new ultra deep-water drilling project

Environmental groups sued the Trump administration on Monday over its approval last month of oil company BP’s ultra deep-water drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico.

The groups sued on the 16th anniversary of the nation’s worst offshore oil spill 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, when BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig sent 134 million gallons (500 million liters) of crude oil spewing into the ocean, killing 11 people and causing billions of dollars in damage to wildlife and miles of coastline.

The administration approved BP’s $5 billion Kaskida project in March, the company’s first new oil field developed in the Gulf since 2010. BP said it could have capacity of 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Groups Healthy Gulf, Habitat Recovery Project, Center for Biological Diversity and others requested a review of the project approval in its Monday filing against the U.S. Interior Department, Secretary Doug Burgum, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and director Matthew Giacona.

The groups say information required for the approval is missing and does not demonstrate that BP has the qualifications to conduct safe drilling that deep. They also say that Kaskida endangers Gulf residents’ health, harms ecosystems and impacts fishing and tourism industries.

“The Trump administration has teed up the entire Gulf region for a Deepwater Horizon sequel” by approving the project, said Brettny Hardy, senior attorney at Earthjustice, which is representing the plaintiffs.

Several lawmakers last year attempted to call on the administration to reject the project’s approval.

Interior spokesperson Charlotte Taylor told The Associated Press that the department does not comment on ongoing litigation. But: “America sets the global standard for energy production. We do it cleaner, safer, and more reliably than anywhere in the world.”

Taylor added the Kaskida project “represents a major step forward, unlocking more than 275 million barrels of previously unrecoverable oil in the Gulf of America. This development will drive job creation, strengthen U.S. national security, and help cut energy costs for American families.”

Increased fossil fuel production has been a priority for President Donald Trump in his second term, and the administration has proposed a number of pro-oil and gas rollbacks of regulations viewed as unfriendly to the industry as part of an “American energy dominance” agenda.

The Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for almost 15% of crude pumped annually in the U.S. and produces about 2 million barrels of oil a day, in particular has been of high importance to Trump.

The administration announced earlier this month it was combining the current Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, under the new Marine Minerals Administration to expedite permitting for offshore oil and gas drilling. The two agencies were separated in the aftermath of the 2010 oil spill.

The administration last month also exempted drilling in the Gulf from the Endangered Species Act — law that makes it illegal to harm or kill species on a protected list — on the basis of national security.

These changes have been made amid soaring energy prices and global oil shocks brought on by the U.S.-Iran war.

BP America spokesperson Paul Takahashi told The Associated Press that Deepwater Horizon forever changed the company.

He added BP believes the lawsuit is unfounded and “is fully confident in our Kaskida development plan and our ability to deliver this offshore project safely, responsibly and in compliance with U.S. regulations and industry standards.”

Just last month, a massive oil spill in the Gulf spread more than 373 miles (600 kilometers) and into seven nature reserves, contaminating at least six species and sending 800 tons of hydrocarbon-laden waste into the ocean.

Many of Trump’s moves have reversed efforts by former Democratic President Joe Biden to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters.

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Associated Press reporter Jack Brook contributed from New Orleans.

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Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

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