Conservation groups are suing the federal government over its failure to finalize a protection zone for endangered leatherback sea turtles off the Pacific coast of the United States.

The groups filed suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court, saying the National Marine Fisheries Service missed a deadline to designate 70,600 square miles off the Pacific Coast as a turtle safety zone.

Leatherbacks can grow up to 1,200 pounds and an immense range, swimming from Indonesia to the U.S. West Coast to lay eggs.

The Center for Biological Diversity and other groups' complaint says the government agreed in January 2010 to create the safety zone rules within a year.