BANGOR (AP) – Two groups from the Passamaquoddy Tribe on Wednesday sued officials of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, saying the BIA failed to represent their views in its review of a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in eastern Maine.

A lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by a group called “We Protect Our Homeland,” an affiliate of Save Passamaquoddy Bay Three-Nation Alliance, and six members of the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy community.

They claim the BIA failed to follow due process when it granted a “ground lease” to Oklahoma-based Quoddy Bay LLC to allow construction of a $400 million LNG terminal at Split Rock, Pleasant Point.

The suit names as defendants Robert Impson, the BIA’s acting regional director, and Interior Secretary Gale Norton. An e-mail seeking comment from the bureau was not immediately answered.

The bureau “did not talk to tribal members where the project would be,” elder Madonna Soctomah, who has lived on the reservation for 62 years, said Wednesday. She asserted that the bureau had a responsibility to consult with all of the tribal members in the matter.

Soctomah said her group “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.”

The suit claims the 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, and violated the National Historic Preservation Act by failing to consider the historic significance of the Split Rock site.

It also says the BIA failed to consider the impact of the lease on the Pleasant Point community, in violation of federal requirements, and failed to ensure that the tribe receives fair market value for the leased lands.

The lawsuit is being handled by the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic in Vermont.

The Pleasant Point site is one of three being looked at in eastern Maine for proposed LNG terminals.

BP Consulting LLC says it’s working with the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township and Calais officials to build a $500 million facility in the city’s Red Beach section. Downeast LNG of Washington, D.C., wants to build a $400 million terminal and storage tank facility in Robbinston.

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On the Net:

Save Passamaquoddy Bay: www.savepassamaquoddybay.org