HONOLULU — The St. Regis Princeville Resort on Kauai has been sued by four environmental groups.

The suit filed Thursday accuses the resort of violating the federal Endangered Species Act by failing to prevent the ongoing deaths of rare native seabirds.

The lawsuit was filed by Earthjustice on behalf of Hui Hoomalu i Ka Aina, the Conservation Council for Hawaii, the Center for Biological Diversity and the American Bird Conservancy.

They say the resort's lights confuse Newell's shearwater and Hawaiian petrel seabirds following moonlight out to sea, leading to their deaths.

St. Regis Princeville General Manager Milton Sgarbi said in March that the hotel has been taking steps to allow the birds to reach the ocean safely since 2005.