{
  "id": 1808467,
  "title": "Nonprofit sues US as it pushes to auction massive tracks of water around American Samoa",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/nonprofit-sues-us-as-it-pushes-to-auction-massive-tracks-of-water",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-18T21:51:59.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Winnipeg Free Press",
    "slug": "winnipeg-free-press",
    "url": "https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/greenpage/2026/08/18/nonprofit-sues-us-as-it-pushes-to-auction-massive-tracks-of-water-around-american-samoa"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A legal environmental organization, Earthjustice, has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over plans to auction massive sections of water surrounding American Samoa for potential deep-sea mining. This lawsuit was filed a month after the Trump administration announced its intentions.\n\nEarthjustice is representing two groups: Fa'sao Amerika Samoa and Conservation Council for Hawai'i. The nonprofit is demanding a judge halt the National Marine Fisheries Service's progress with the mining plans and ensure compliance with the Endangered Species Act and other federal regulations. The lawsuit argues that the U.S. has never opened its waters to deep-sea mining until now.\n\nThe U.S. plans to sell leases with the intention of allowing mining across approximately 33 million acres (51,560 square miles) of seabed off American Samoa. This area is rich in minerals like nickel, cobalt, and manganese, which are used in batteries, electronics, and other products. However, Earthjustice contends that the U.S. must first ensure that such activity won't destroy critical habitats or push species closer to extinction.\n\nThe Samoan people depend on a healthy ocean ecosystem that provides food, protects shorelines, and is central to cultural practices dating back over a millennium. The lawsuit highlights that many species, including sea turtles known as \"i'a sa\" (sacred fish), migrate to Hawaiian waters from American Samoa. American Samoa considers whales, sharks, giant manta rays, and other marine animals sacred, with a ban on catching or harming them.\n\nThe lawsuit asserts that non-compliance with U.S. laws is harming professional, scientific, educational, aesthetic, spiritual, and cultural interests in both American Samoan and Hawaiian waters. These waters host rare and diverse marine species such as coral reefs, sponges, crabs, deep-sea cucumbers, sea turtles, and hundreds of coral and fish species.\n\nThe area the U.S. intends to lease is located about 57 miles (92 kilometers) from the Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. This area was recently designated as critical habitat for the green sea turtle. The U.S. administration is seeking to expedite mining permits, even as numerous countries have called for a moratorium or ban on deep-sea mining due to environmental concerns.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}