ANIMAL WELFARE INSTITUTE, CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, TURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION NETWORK, ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, v. BP AMERICA, INC., BP EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION, BRITISH PETROLEUM PLC

Summary: This complaint is an action for declaratory and injunctive relief pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”), 43 U.S.C. § 1349(a)(2)(A), to bring an immediate halt to defendants’ actions that are killing endangered and threatened sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico as part of defendants’ efforts to contain the catastrophic oil spill that has occurred at defendants’ Deepwater Horizon facility in the Gulf of Mexico. In this complaint, several animal rights organizations allege, in an effort to contain the oil spill by burning the oil, defendants are also corralling and burning alive endangered and threatened sea turtles without a permit from the Department of Commerce, in violation of Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 16 U.S.C. § 1538(a). A motion for temporary restraining order is also included.