Federal Lawsuit Against BIA in LNG CASE

Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon
(We Protect Our Homeland)
Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Affiliate
Save Passamaquoddy Bay 3-Nation Alliance
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November 2, 2005

For immediate release

Contact:
Madonna Soctomah, Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon (207-853-2985)
Vera Francis, Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon (506-449-3831; leave message
for callback)
Patrick Parenteau, Director, Environmental and Natural Resource Law
Clinic,
Vermont Law School pparenteau@vermontlaw.edu (802-831-1305)
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LNG-related Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Bureau of Indian Affairs
& US Secretary of the Interior by Passamaquoddy Tribal Members

A federal lawsuit charging four separate violations of U.S. federal law
was filed on Wednesday, November 2nd in the U.S. District Court for
Maine in Bangor. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Nulankeyutmonen
Nkihaqmikon (We Protect Our Homeland), an affiliate of Save
Passamaquoddy Bay 3-Nation Alliance, and six members of the Pleasant
Point Passamaquoddy community.

The suit names as defendants Robert K. Impson, Acting Regional
Director, Eastern Region, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and Gale
Norton, Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior.

The suit challenges Defendant Impson's approval on June 1, 2005 of the
"Ground Lease" to Quoddy Bay LLC to allow construction of a Liquified
Natural Gas Terminal at Split Rock at Pleasant Point.

The suit alleges that Defendants violated the following federal laws in
the process of approving the Quoddy Bay lease:

1) BIA failed to conduct an environmental assessment on the impacts of
siting a major industrial facility at Split Rock as required by the
National Environmental Policy Act.
2) BIA violated the National Historic Preservation Act by failing to
consider the historic significance of the Split Rock site.
3) BIA violated the Long Term Leasing Act by failing to consider the
impact of the lease on the nearby Pleasant Point community and failing
to insure that the tribe receives fair market value for the leased
lands.
4) BIA violated the Indian Trust Responsibility by failing to insure
that the lease was in the best interests of the entire Passamaquoddy
Tribe.

The suit seeks an order setting aside the Quoddy Bay LLC lease and
directing the BIA to fully comply with all applicable laws.

The plaintiffs’ ultimate objective is to reopen the lease decision and
provide an opportunity for all tribal members to vote on whether this
project is truly in the best interests of the community based on sound
environmental and economic information.

The lawsuit is being handled by the Environmental and Natural Resources
Law Clinic at Vermont Law School with Director Patrick Parenteau acting
as lead attorney.

Members of Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon, who are plaintiffs in this
lawsuit, will hold a news conference at 11:00am ET on Thursday on
November 3 at Split Rock (From US-1, follow Route-190 east to the
eastern-most edge of the reservation, near the wharf. In case of bad
weather, the news conference will be held on the second floor of the
Tribal Housing Authority Office, which is across the street from
Beatrice Rafferty School entrance, and next to St. Ann’s Church.)

Persons wishing to have a complete electronic or paper copy of the
lawsuit may contact the US District Court for Maine in Bangor
(207-945-0575). (Hard copies are 50¢/page. Electronic copies require a
free PACER account, but
cost just 8¢/page. To access documents with a PACER account:
.)

Speaking about the lawsuit, Madonna Soctomah, Media Coordinator for
Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon said: “The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the
U.S. Department of the Interior have been negligent in their Trust
Responsibility in safeguarding our tribal land from potentially harmful
corporate development. Let it be known that we will do our utmost to
safeguard the last vestige of our communal land. We stand in solidarity
in opposing any government, department, or policy that threatens our
land. We are connected to the land; the land is connected to us.”

Vera Francis, coordinator of Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon said, “Since
the moment this proposed LNG crept into our community, Nulankeyutmonen
Nkihaqmikon has had a clear vision, and that vision is in our name
which translates to “We Protect Our Homeland.” Today, we have made
concrete our vision. We are extremely clear about our actions, and we
will follow this legal process to its conclusion.”

Francis continued, “ Our Passamaquoddy people, and all of Maine’s
people can do better than unsustainable projects like LNG. We are
entitled to our lands, our waters, and that which sustains us. Bringing
projects like LNG into Passamaquoddy Bay will cause destruction now and
for generations to come. LNG in Passamaquoddy Bay is neither about an
economic nor energy crisis, it is about a leadership crisis.”

“All people statewide need to come to grips with, and speak out about,
the current direction of Maine’s top leaders who are trying to usher
into Maine’s coastal communities this degrading and dangerous project.
Other coastal communities have spoken about their determination to keep
LNG from their shores and homes, to protect their lives and
livelihoods. Today, we join our voices with theirs and say that we
don’t want LNG in our community and we will not tolerate illegal
actions which have tried to force this upon us. We will not be
alienated from our homelands and our ancestral waters — Passamaquoddy
Bay.”

“This legal action is not just about us and our neighboring
communities. It’s implications are much broader. We vow to be silent no
more. We will speak now with the voice of the law, and we will use all
legal avenues open to us to save this bay which is the source of our
very existence. We will protect and defend Passamaquoddy Bay,” Francis
concluded.






In speaking about Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon’s Federal Law Suit, Linda
Godfrey, Coordinator of Save Passamaquoddy Bay said:

“Save Passamaquoddy Bay is a 3-Nation Alliance — U.S., Passamaquoddy,
and Canadian. Today, we stand together with our Save Passamaquoddy Bay
- Pleasant Point members, who named their efforts Nulankeyutmonen
Nkitahkomikon (We Protect Our Homeland), in their decision to bring
forward this act of justice in response to two years of intrusion,
interruption and injustice that has surrounded the issue of proposed
LNG operations on their tribal homeland. The filing of this legal
action was an option from the first days that tribal members were
excluded from the process. From the onset of the LNG proposal, our
colleagues at Pleasant Point have made it clear that they were prepared
to defend that which has sustained their people for generations — their
entitlement to Passamaquoddy Bay and Passamaquoddy land.

“Tribal members are defending their right to informed consent to any
proposal which affects their land and resources, their lives and
livelihoods. They are defending their right to control and manage their
own resources. They are standing up against any proposal that
negatively impacts their human and ecological health rights. They are
asserting their civil rights to their fullest extent. They are
maintaining that self-determination must be the basis for all
development in their homeland.

“Nulankeyutmonen Nkitahkomikon is in a loud voice, calling out to
Maine, to the nation and to the world to say that the failures of
tribal leadership, the neglect of Maine state government, and the
strong-arm tactics of LNG developer Quoddy Bay LLC have denied them
their civil rights, due process of law, and basic justice. They have
reached to the federal level, where they accuse the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and the U.S. Department of the Interior of the ultimate
injustice. Their legal action demands a remedy. Their action also puts
on notice all LNG developers, all state and federal permitting
agencies, and all levels of government that their actions are being
monitored and all legal safeguards will be utilized to protect
Passamaquoddy Bay from LNG industrialization.

“Save Passamaquoddy Bay as an organization is pledged to protect the
Quoddy Region. We will continue to be diligent in our efforts related
to all LNG proposals which have surfaced in this area. Today, we
strongly stand with our Nulankeyutmonen Nkitahkomikon partners in this
particular legal action.”

Persons may access our website at www.savepassamaquoddybay.org for
additional information.

-End-