Environmental group sues U.S. to stop deep-sea mining lease auction near American Samoa

Earthjustice sued the U.S. government to halt a plan announced last month to auction roughly 33 million acres of ocean floor around American Samoa for deep-sea mining, naming the National Marine Fisheries Service and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as defendants. Representing Fa‘asao Amerika Samoa and the Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, the nonprofit claims the proposal breaches the Endangered Species Act and could endanger habitats supporting sea turtles, whales, giant manta rays and several coral species.

The suit calls a recent agency determination that the leases would not harm critical habitat “arbitrary and capricious.” The Trump administration argues that extracting nickel, cobalt and manganese is essential for national security and economic resilience. Critics, including the Center for Biological Diversity’s Nick Katkevich, contend that no commercial seabed mining has yet succeeded anywhere and that the venture threatens unique marine ecosystems. The contested area lies 57 miles from the Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, and the move follows a broader push to lease federal waters, including a proposal for the Northern Mariana Islands.