Lawsuit Challenges Mariana Islands Deep-Sea Mining Lease Sale

Lawsuit Challenges Mariana Islands Deep-Sea Mining Lease Sale

Groups seek protection for imperiled species from destructive deep-sea mining activities

Contacts

Miranda Fox, Earthjustice, [email protected]

Conservation and community groups filed a lawsuit today challenging the Trump administration's plan to kick-start deep-sea mining off the coast of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam in the western Pacific. The lawsuit contests the National Marine Fisheries Service's conclusion that the deep-sea mining lease sale is unlikely to adversely affect imperiled species like humpback whales, giant manta rays, and sea turtles. The suit also highlights the importance of a healthy ocean ecosystem to the people of the Mariana Islands who depend on it for sustenance and long-standing cultural practices.

Our Common Wealth 670, PåganWatch, Conservation Council for Hawai'i, and Center for Biological Diversity, represented by Earthjustice, filed the lawsuit in the District of Hawai'i.

"Illusory promises of short-term economic gains from deep-sea mining can never justify the long-term harm to the people of the Marianas." said Isa Arriola, Chamorro and executive director of CNMI non-profit, Our Common Wealth 670. "Deep-sea mining threatens irreversible damage to our ocean, our environment, and the communities and cultures that depend on it. Once that damage is done, we cannot undo it."

"While the Marianas seem far away, ocean ecosystems are interconnected, so deep-sea mining in the Marianas would also have devastating consequences in Hawai'i." said Jonee Peters, executive director for Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi. "We stand with the people of the Marianas in opposing this reckless scheme, which threatens critically imperiled whales, turtles, and sharks that are parts of our shared natural and cultural heritage."

The Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) advanced the deep-sea mining lease sale process in the seabed off the Mariana Islands in August, planning a lease-sale to be held on December 16, 2026. This is the second Pacific lease sale the MMA has proposed, following a lease sale announcement in July for deep-sea mining off the coast of American Samoa, planned for November. Earthjustice also filed a lawsuit challenging the American Samoa lease sale last month. Both lawsuits seek to defend wildlife protected by the Endangered Species Act.

"The rush to auction off leases before evaluating the impact on marine ecosystems and nearby communities appears to be a deliberate tactic to get a highly destructive industry into motion, and that will be hard to stop. It is also illegal," said Pete Perez, a resident of Saipan and executive director of the grassroots organization, PåganWatch.

Deep-sea mining proposes to extract metals from some of the deepest and most unexplored parts of the ocean using unproven technology. Scientists believe biodiversity loss and habitat destruction will be unpreventable and irreversible if mining using the proposed methods were to advance at scale. In addition to direct habitat destruction, deep-sea mining and exploration will generate noise and light pollution, sediment plumes, wastewater, and residual toxic heavy metals that could drift far from the actual mining sites and contaminate the water column.

"Mining the bottom of the ocean is a spectacularly nightmarish idea that Trump should back away from immediately," said Emily Jeffers, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Not only will deep-sea mining destroy fragile ecosystems, but it'll also harm migrating whales and sea turtles. Trump officials are trying to sell off imperiled ocean life without even fully looking at the damage mining could cause, but the courts can hold them accountable."

"Deep-sea mining is an industry that does not currently exist beyond a few small, exploratory projects. Encouraging it to advance at scale demonstrates again the Trump administration's willingness to carelessly barrel ahead in the name of corporate profits at any cost. We turn to the courts to enforce the environmental laws that this administration has been all too willing to ignore," said Chris Eaton, Earthjustice Senior Attorney.

Additional Resources

• About the Mid-Pacific Office
• About the Oceans Program

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