Supreme Court case: Alyeska Pipeline Service Comp v. The Wilderness Society Essay

Supreme Court of the United States
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company
v
The Wilderness Society et al.

Argued Jan 22, 1975
Decided May 12, 1975



Cause of Action.

This lawsuit is in reference to Alyeska Pipeline Service Company (hereafter, “Petitioner”) brought suit against The Wilderness Society, charging that the environmental group should not be granted an award of expenses and attorney’s fees after prevailing in federal litigation to prevent issuance of Government permits required for construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.

Procedural History.

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia:   Granted a preliminary injunction against issuance of the right-of-way and permits.

The United States Court of Appeals:   Reversed the District of Columbia Circuit and declined to decide the merits of respondents’ NEPA contentions which had been rejected by the District Court.

The United States Court of Appeals:   ruled in favor of the respondent.


Facts.

A major oil field was discovered in the North Slope of Alaska in 1968.   In June 1969, the oil companies constituting the consortium owning Alyeska submitted an application to the Department of the Interior for rights-of-way for a pipeline that would transport oil from the North Slope across land in Alaska owned by the United States a major part of the transport system which would carry the oil to its ultimate markets in the lower 48 States.   The respondents brought suit in March 1970, and sought declaratory and injunctive relief against the Secretary of the Interior on the grounds that he intended to issue the right-of-way and special land-use permits in violation of s 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, 41 Stat. 449, as amended, 30 U.S.C. s 185, and without compliance with the Nation Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, the District Court granted a preliminary injunction against issuance of the right-of-way and permits.   The case was then file in the United States...