September 5, 2019 — Two environmental groups are suing the Trump administration for its decision allowing Hilcorp to disturb beluga whales as it explores Cook Inlet for offshore oil and gas.
Cook Inlet keeper is one of groups suing. Advocacy Director Bob Shavelson says seismic blasts and other exploration work would devastate a population already suffering from the effects of climate change and other factors.
“The Cook Inlet beluga whales are literally teetering on the edge of extinction,” he said. “There was a general idea that, with the halt to Native subsistence hunting in 1999, that the population would rebound. But that didn’t occur.”