Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project in Cook Inlet
On May 11th, 2018, The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) wrote a letter in response to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries' request for comments on a petition for regulations governing the taking of marine mammals (ITR) by the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) in Cook Inlet, Alaska. In this letter, EIA voiced its concern that this ITR permit request will have a major impact on Cook Inlet's endangered population of beluga whales. EIA also pointed to troubling procedural errors that occurred during the public comment period which made it difficult to discern what the true impact of the proposed project would be on Cook Inlet beluga. For all the reasons highlighted in the letter, EIA urged the National Marine Fisheries Service to deny AGDC's petition.