The U.S. Supreme Court sided with environmentalists and rejected a challenge by the oil industry to reverse an offshore fracking ban in California on June 5.
The Environmental Defense Center filed its original lawsuit in 2014 to stop offshore fracking in federal waters, arguing the fracking chemicals could cause environmental issues and kill marine life.
Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that the federal government violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it allowed fracking and acidizing extraction practices at all offshore oil and gas wells in leased federal waters in the Pacific Ocean.
“The agencies also should have prepared a full [environmental impact statement] in light of the unknown risks posed by the well stimulation treatments and the significant data gaps that the agencies acknowledged,” the appeals court wrote….