Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Conservation and community groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the Trump administration’s plan to kickstart deep-sea mining off the coasts of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. The first lawsuit was specific to the Trump administration’s attempt to launch deep-sea mining off the coast of American Samoa.

Meanwhile, CNMI Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds wants territories to get a 50% cut of revenues from any deep-sea mining leases.

Tuesday’s lawsuit is the second filed by Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization, on behalf of parties Our Common Wealth 670, PåganWatch, Conservation Council for Hawai’i and Center for Biological Diversity. The first lawsuit was specific to the Trump administration’s attempt to launch deep-sea mining off the coast of American Samoa.

The mining leases were advanced by the Marine Minerals Administration in July and August, first for the seabed of American Samoa and then for the Marianas Islands. A lease sale is planned for Dec. 16 for the Marianas and for American Samoa in November.

ENDANGERED SPECIES THREATENED

Each lawsuit contests the National Marine Fisheries Service’s conclusion that the deep-sea mining lease sale is unlikely to adversely affect species protected under the Endangered Species Act, such as humpback whales, giant manta rays and sea turtles, according to a press release from Earthjustice.

Earthjustice also highlights the importance of a healthy ocean ecosystem to the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, who “have a sacred relationship to the ocean” and depend on it for sustenance and long-standing cultural practices.

Our Common Wealth 670 Executive Director Isa Arriola, from Saipan, said the “illusory promises” of short-term economic gains from deep-sea mining do not justify the long-term harm it poses to the people of the Marianas.

“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,” Arriola said.

The complaint asserts that deep-sea mining entails using heavy machinery, which can destroy nearly all life in its path, to scour the seabed for potato-sized mineral aggregations (polymetallic nodules) or to strip mine mineral-laden crusts from the seafloor.

“Mining stirs up sediments that can introduce toxic substances into the food web and can smother seafloor ecosystems, like coral reefs, over 60 miles away. Even just exploring for seabed minerals introduces extremely loud noise into the marine environment that can harm marine mammals and other wildlife,” the complaint said.

Furthermore, Earthjustice asserts that fisheries service’s Letter of Concurrence to open nearly 70 million acres of seabed around Guam and the CNMI to mining leases violates key legal requirements under the Endangered Species Act.

They claim the fisheries service did not analyze all effects of the MMA’s action on endangered marine species or critical habitat, ignoring the effects of exploration, testing, development and mining, and therefore, contains “no meaningful assessment” of the many ways those activities harm ESA-listed whales, sea turtles and other wildlife.

The lawsuit asks courts to vacate the letter of concurrence from the fisheries service.

OCEANS INTERCONNECTED

While the Marianas seem far away, Jonee Peters, executive director for Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi, said ocean ecosystems are interconnected, so deep-sea mining in the Marianas would also have devastating consequences in Hawai’i.

“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,” Peters said.

Emily Jeffers, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said mining the bottom of the ocean is a “spectacularly nightmarish idea” that should be abandoned immediately.

“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,” Jeffers said.

Earthjustice Senior Attorney Chris Eaton said the encouragement and fast-tracking of deep-sea mining demonstrates 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,” Eaton said.

PACIFIC MINERALS ECONOMIC SECURITY ACT

On Tuesday, CNMI Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds also introduced H.R. 10318, or the Pacific Minerals Economic Security Act, to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to enhance the economic security of Pacific territories adjacent to seabed mining through revenue sharing and for other purposes.

According to her office, King-Hinds aims to strengthen economic benefits, environmental protections and local consultation requirements for U.S. Pacific territories located near potential seabed mining activities.

King-Hinds added that her bill would establish “unprecedented levels of local revenue sharing” for natural resource development.

The legislation would direct 50% of revenues from covered leases to eligible adjacent territorial governments, strengthening financial assurance and environmental bonding requirements beyond those currently provided under federal law, while also expanding notification and consultation requirements for territorial governments.

“Critical minerals are at the center of America’s economic competitiveness and national security. While I do not support or oppose seabed mining, we must recognize the nation’s strategic imperative to develop secure critical mineral supply chains. If seabed mining offshore our communities occurs, PACMESA would provide a crucial insurance policy for the Pacific territories that could be directly affected,” King-Hinds said.