"The suit claims the U.S. decision to allow mining for minerals in American waters didn’t consider the potential harm to endangered species."

"A coalition of environmentalists and community advocates sued the federal government Tuesday in an effort to halt the first-ever commercial sale of deep sea mining leases in American waters.

The Marine Minerals Administration, which oversees offshore mineral mining, last month announced plans to sell mining leases for 31 million acres of seabed in the Pacific Ocean off American Samoa, in U.S. territorial waters. The lawsuit challenges a finding by the National Marine Fisheries Service that mining “is not likely to adversely affect” species protected by the Endangered Species Act. That finding greenlit the sale.

Parts of the ocean floor are blanketed by fist-sized nodules that contain valuable minerals including nickel, cobalt, manganese and copper, which are essential to the manufacture of advanced technologies that the United States considers critical for both economic competitiveness and military security.

President Trump has made seabed mining a priority of his administration."

Quinn Glabicki reports for the New York Times August 18, 2026.