ELR Citation: 45 ELR 20071
No(s). 3:15-cv-00054 (D. Alaska Apr 11, 2015) (Gleason, J.)

A district court granted an oil company's motion for a temporary restraining order barring environmental activists from entering a 1,000 meter "safety zone" around three drilling vessels in the U.S. exclusive economic zone. The company alleged that Greenpeace USA is acting in concert with Greenpeace International and other Greenpeace national offices to interfere with the vessels' drilling operations, and sought a temporary restraining order based on claims of intentional tortious interference with maritime navigation, trespass and trespass to chattels, private nuisance, and civil conspiracy. The court found that the company will likely succeed on the merits of one or more of its claims. A Greenpeace USA employee and American citizen is one of six activists that boarded a drilling vessel without authorization, and Greenpeace USA is actively promoting a website supporting the activists' actions. In addition, the organization's role in perpetuating the presence of activists aboard the vessel creates a likelihood of immediate irreparable harm to the company. Greenpeace USA is allegedly supplying provisions to the activists that boarded the ship, and it is likely that the activists will cause disruption and delay to the company's summer drilling program. The balance of equities also favors granting the restraining order. The company has a significant and legally valid interest in conducting authorized exploration on its Arctic leases without dangerous or tortious interference. And while the activists' interests in conducting protests and monitoring drilling activities are also important, conducting illegal or tortious activities are not. Ordering injunctive relief to prevent such illegal and tortious conduct is therefore in the public interest. The court, therefore, issued a temporary restraining order with respect to the three vessels. The order, however, does not extend to the many other vessels that the company may use in its 2015 summer drilling program.