A federal judge has sided with oil company Conoco Phillips, which sued the government seeking relief from new rules designed to protect bowhead whales in the Chukchi Sea from noisy seismic tests.
Conoco, in its suit filed last month in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, had argued the National Marine Fisheries Service had arbitrarily tightened noise limits without scientific basis.
The limits are intended to prevent sonic pulses from driving migratory whales out of their normal feeding grounds, but attorneys for Conoco argued that the rules would greatly increase the territory it would have to monitor for whales in the vicinity of loud sound emanating from a seismic testing ship. The company also cited safety risks for the workers doing the monitoring.
On Monday, Judge Ralph Beistline granted Conoco's request to block NMFS from enforcing the more rigorous noise limits.
The judge said the best science available seemed to support Conoco, and he also said the danger associated with the additional monitoring "tips clearly" in the company's favor.
The judge's ruling does not mean the case is over. It means only that Conoco has won relief from the tightened sound limits pending further review.
The attorney for NMFS is based in Washington, D.C., and could not be reached late Tuesday afternoon for comment.
Three other parties asked to join the case on the government's side. They include the Chukchi Sea village of Point Hope, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and the North Slope Borough. All favored the tougher sound limits, saying excessive sound could hurt whales that Native villagers hunt for food.
Demian Schane, a Juneau attorney for Point Hope, said his client was disappointed in the judge's decision but the case isn't over. He argued that the science does show the potential for industrial noise harming sea life.
"I don't know what's going to happen now," Schane said. He said Conoco has "shown disregard for the interests of the Native communities up there and their subsistence lifestyle (based) on the bowhead whale."
Conoco and two other companies got government permits to conduct seismic tests this fall in search of oil and natural gas in the Chukchi. It's the first time in several years that the industry has shown interest in the remote water body.
Seismic work involves using air guns to bounce sound waves into the ocean floor to map rock formations that might hold oil or gas.
Conoco issued a statement saying it was pleased with the judge's ruling.
"We appealed the permit conditions because we do not believe there is scientific support for the requirement to monitor for whales in an area 2,000 times the size of monitoring zones imposed in the past," the statement said.
Daily News reporter Wesley Loy can be reached at wloy@adn.com or 257-4590.
