A US judge has rejected requests by environmental groups to delay a major oil project on Alaska’s North Slope. ConocoPhillips Alaska can now forge ahead with construction work on its Willow project, but opponents worry that the noise from road construction and blasting could affect caribou. Environmentalists and an Alaska Native organisation want the court to overturn the project’s approval, arguing that an adequate range of alternatives was not considered by the Bureau of Land Management.A US judge has rejected requests by environmental groups to delay a major oil project on Alaska’s North Slope. ConocoPhillips Alaska can now forge ahead with construction work on its Willow project, but opponents worry that the noise from road construction and blasting could affect caribou. Environmentalists and an Alaska Native organisation want the court to overturn the project’s approval, arguing that an adequate range of alternatives was not considered by the Bureau of Land Management.
