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Remedies Keyed to Kovacic-Fleischer, 8th
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society
Citation:
421 U.S. 240 (1975)Facts
Following the discovery of a major oil field on Alaska’s North Slope in 1968, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, a consortium of oil companies, applied to the Department of the Interior for rights-of-way to construct a pipeline across federal lands. In March 1970, respondent environmental organizations filed suit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, arguing that the Secretary of the Interior intended to issue permits in violation of the Mineral Leasing Act and without compliance with NEPA. The District Court granted a preliminary injunction. After extensive proceedings, including the release of a six-volume Environmental Impact Statement, the Court of Appeals reversed on Mineral Leasing Act grounds. Congress then enacted legislation amending the Act to permit the pipeline and declaring no further NEPA action necessary. The Court of Appeals subsequently awarded attorneys’ fees to respondents, holding they had acted as “private attorneys general” vindicating important statutory rights, and assessed half the fees against Alyeska.
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