Published August 26, 2026 at 9:44 AM HST

A legal environmental team is working with a group in Hawaiʻi to sue the U.S. government over an issue in the Pacific Islands. They want to stop the Trump administration's plan to auction off sections of water surrounding American Samoa for potential deep-sea mining. HPR's Derrick Malama has more in the Pacific News Minute.

Earthjustice is asking a judge to order the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service to stop actions it says violate the Endangered Species Act.

It filed the lawsuit against the Fisheries Service and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on behalf of two groups: Fa'asao Amerika Samoa and Conservation Council for Hawai‘i.

Earthjustice argues that the U.S. plans to sell leases with the intention of allowing mining across more than 30 million acres of seabed off American Samoa. The area is rich in minerals that are used to build electronics and other products.

The lawsuit says before any sale, the U.S. must ensure the activity will not destroy critical habitats or push species closer to extinction. It notes many animals around American Samoa also migrate to Hawaiian waters.

The Trump administration is trying to expedite mining permits even as dozens of countries have called for a ban on deep-sea mining due to environmental concerns. A spokesperson with NOAA's fisheries service told The Associated Press that it was unable to discuss current litigation.

The U.S. government also recently proposed leasing federal waters surrounding the Northern Mariana Islands for a total of nearly 70 million acres. The move was widely condemned by scientists and environmentalists.