Court halts Sea Lion project in Malvinas, orders environmental impact assessment

A federal court in Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, has ordered a halt to construction and other physical works related to the Sea Lion oil and gas project, located on Argentina’s continental shelf, approximately 220 kilometers north of the Malvinas Islands.

The decision was issued by Federal Judge Mariel Borruto as part of a collective environmental damage lawsuit filed by the Malvinas Veterans’ Center La Plata (CECIM) and the Civil Association of Environmental Lawyers and Professionals (AAdeAA) against Rockhopper Exploration PLC and Navitas Petroleum Development and Production Limited.

From the outset, the judge clarified that the ruling is a precautionary measure and, therefore, “does not constitute a final ruling on the liability of the defendants” or on all the issues that will have to be resolved in the main proceedings.

However, she found that the necessary elements for such preventive intervention had been established. A key point was a report from the Environmental Impact Assessment Directorate of the Undersecretariat for the Environment, which stated that “no project notice has been filed, nor has an Environmental Impact Assessment procedure been launched with any of the companies mentioned.”

In the judge’s view, this information is decisive because the General Environmental Law requires a prior assessment for activities that could cause significant environmental degradation.

In the ruling, the court does not state that the project will necessarily cause environmental damage. Rather, it questions whether the activity could proceed without first undergoing the procedure specifically designed to determine its potential impacts.

“It is not being asserted here that the alleged environmental damage will occur, nor could such an assertion be made  at this stage of the proceedings,” Borruto said.

She added: “What has been established is that the defendants have failed to carry out the procedure provided for by law to determine precisely whether the damage will occur and what measures should be taken to prevent or mitigate it.”

Accordingly, the judge stated that this omission makes the environmental principles of prevention and precaution applicable.

What works have been halted The precautionary measure applies to Rockhopper and Navitas and orders them to refrain from initiating, continuing, carrying out, or commissioning any physical works related to the “Sea Lion” project, including potential expansions and any wells or facilities functionally integrated into it.

The prohibition covers:

Drilling the seabed or subsoil for hydrocarbon development or exploitation.
The permanent installation of subsea infrastructure for extraction or production.
The installation of pipelines, flowlines, and transportation, injection and control systems.
Permanent mooring structures associated with the project.
The installation or commissioning of floating production, storage and offloading units for hydrocarbons.
The start of commercial hydricarbon extraction or exploitation.
Onshore and port works intended to support the project, including logistics bases, port expansions, mud and cement plants, chemical storage facilities, housing infrastructure and aviation support facilities.
The suspension will remain in effect until the environmental impact assessment procedure is conducted before the national environmental authority and the corresponding decision is issued, or until the court itself orders otherwise.

Editorial disclaimer: Although the UK refers to the territory as the “Falkland Islands,” Argentina strongly contests this name. The Buenos Aires Herald uses “Malvinas” to refer to the islands.

Originally published in Ámbito