A group of stakeholders with interests tied to Suriname’s coastal area has launched a formal legal challenge to two planned Halliburton projects near Paramaribo, calling on the country’s National Environmental Authority (NMA) to revisit and reverse earlier environmental approvals that greenlit the developments. Through legal representation, the group has submitted an official request that pauses all pre-construction work on Halliburton’s proposed new operational base at Sir Winston Churchillweg 426, as well as halts ongoing permitting for an on-site radioactive materials storage facility linked to the energy firm’s regional operations. The challenge targets two separate environmental assessment dossiers: MEA 0049/2025, which covers the operational base, and MEA 0054/2025, the regulatory file for the radioactive storage facility. Stakeholders say they have raised fundamental concerns about how the projects were screened, classified, and evaluated for potential harms to local ecosystems and communities, arguing that earlier assessments failed to account for key risks. At the core of the dispute is the classification of the radioactive storage facility. The NMA previously categorized the project as an activity with low environmental impact but high site sensitivity, a designation that allowed the project to move forward with only a limited environmental review in the form of a standard Environment Management and Monitoring Plan (MMMP), rather than a full, comprehensive environmental impact assessment. Stakeholders argue this classification is incorrect and inconsistent with the risks of storing radioactive materials in a populated area near critical environmental resources, and are pushing the NMA to re-evaluate the designation in light of new evidence and research they have presented. The group is asking the NMA to investigate whether the original classification remains justified, and whether the decision to accept a limited MMMP review instead of a full assessment should be withdrawn or revised. Pending the outcome of this reassessment, stakeholders are calling for all further permitting work on the storage facility dossier to be suspended immediately. In their formal request, they also emphasize that any new environmental review must go beyond traditional ecological harm assessments, and include full analysis of the projects’ potential social and economic impacts on nearby communities and local industries. The NMA has been given a deadline of October 1, 2026, to issue a substantive response to the stakeholders’ claims and requests. It is important to note that the submission of the formal challenge does not automatically invalidate earlier environmental approvals or halt work on the projects at this stage. The NMA will first review the request to determine whether there is sufficient merit to reopen the assessment processes, revise earlier decisions, or implement the requested temporary suspensions. Halliburton, a major global energy services firm, has been expanding its operational footprint in Suriname amid growing offshore oil and gas exploration activity in the country’s waters, making the planned base and storage facility a key part of its regional strategy. The challenge comes amid growing public debate in Suriname over environmental regulation of the energy sector, and whether existing rules provide sufficient protection for local communities and fragile ecosystems. The outcome of the NMA’s review is expected to set a precedent for future large-scale energy infrastructure projects in the country.