Opinion
3:23-cv-00071-SLG
07-14-2023
ORUTSARARMUIT NATIVE COUNCIL, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, et al., Defendants, and DONLIN GOLD, LLC, et al. Intervenor-Defendants.
ORDER RE STATE OF ALASKA'S MOTION TO INTERVENE
SHARON L. GLEASON UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Before the Court at Docket 28 is the State of Alaska's Motion to Intervene in the instant dispute as a matter of right, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2). Federal Defendants responded at Docket 32 that they do not oppose permissive intervention and take no position on the State's request to intervene as of right. Intervenor-Defendants do not oppose the motion. Plaintiffs responded with a qualified non-opposition at Docket 33 to which no reply was filed.
Upon due consideration, the State of Alaska's (“State”) motion is hereby GRANTED as follows: IT IS ORDERED that the State is hereby admitted into this litigation as an Intervenor-Defendant with full rights of participation. However, the Court agrees with Plaintiffs that its proposed answer is deficient insofar as it contains a number of paragraphs that assert that a document “speaks for itself” as to allegations that do not describe documents. See Rule 8(b)(1)(B), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Compliance with this rule should help inform the Court and the parties of the State's position and potentially narrow the issues in this case. Therefore, within seven days of the date of this order, the State shall file an answer that rectifies the deficiencies identified in this order.