TALLAHASSEE A federal judge has remanded a lawsuit that environmental groups filed last summer after massive amounts wastewater were discharged from a former phosphate plants site in an effort to prevent a potential disaster.
U.S. District Judge William Jung placed a six-month suspension on the lawsuit as a court-ordered receiver in another state case works to close Piney Point in Manatee County.
Jung wrote in an order dated Friday that was posted online Monday that the state court system has a running start to closing Piney Point. He also pointed to the $100 million that the Legislature approved last fiscal year to clean up the site.
Jung wrote that there is no evidence that the receiver is acting in bad faith as plaintiffs (the environmental organizations) admitted at oral argument. This federal court will not interfere with state efforts as long as the actors are continuing to act in good faith. The case may be simplified if a stay is granted. The state-court receiver took over the daily operations of this site and is currently assembling a team. His reports will provide details about the extent of the environmental damage and the best ways to remedy it.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed the federal lawsuit against the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Tampa Bay Waterkeepers, Suncoast Waterkeepers, Manasota-88, and Our Childrens Earth Foundation. They claim that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, among other defendants, had long mishandled the site.
The lawsuit was filed after 215 million gallons of wastewater were discharged into Tampa Bay in April. This was due to fears of a catastrophic leakage of the reservoir. The lawsuit stated that the discharges had caused harmful algal blooms and fish deaths. A breach was also feared by residents nearby, so they had to evacuate temporarily.
The lawsuit claims violations to the federal Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The Department of Environmental Protection is not the only defendant. Gov. Ron DeSantis, the property owner HRK Holdings, LLC, and the Manatee County Port Authority are also defendants.
Piney Point contains hazardous phosphogypsum piles, which are a byproduct from phosphate production that took place at the site between 1966 and 1999. The site also houses the wastewater.
Jung referred to a 2020 state court foreclosure lawsuit against HRK By Fortress 2020 Landco LLC. This lawsuit was filed against HRK by Fortress 2020 Landco LLC. The company holds a mortgage on this site. As part of the lawsuit, the receiver was appointed in August.
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Jung was requested by the Department of Environmental Protection along with other defendants, to dismiss the federal lawsuit. He said that the motions to dismissal were moot in the six-month stay.
Jung wrote that a stay pursuant to inherent judiciary authority does not mean that a federal court has abdicated its duty to resolve a case in sane and proper manner. It is a pause in the resolution of a case while another forum decides if it promises to simplify or assist federal litigation.
Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida