Seminole sues St. Johns Riverkeeper, Jax for $1.5 million

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon

County wants to recover costs of objections to Yankee Lake plant

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Sep 9, 2009 - 8:48:42am

Seminole County wants $1.5 million or more from the St. Johns Riverkeeper and the City of Jacksonville.

Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon and Riverkeeper organization director Jimmy Orth are crying foul.

Both the Riverkeeper and Jacksonville fought Seminole County's plan to build a plant called Yankee Lake that would take an average of 5.5 million gallons of water a day from the St. Johns for irrigation and drinking.

The two parties, along with St. Johns County, took the matter to a state administrative-law judge. That judge, J. Lawrence Johnston, ruled in Seminole County's favor.

The St. Johns River Water Management District then OK'd the plan for the Yankee Lake plant April 13.

The fight is not over, however.

St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon vowed his organization would keep up the fight. The City of Jacksonville said it would, too. They filed an appeal with the Fifth District Court of Appeals.

In the meantime, Seminole County is suing the Riverkeeper and Jacksonville for attorneys' fees, engineering fees and other expenses related to the administrative hearing.

Armingeon said the action is similar to a SLAPP suit, a "strategic lawsuit against public participation," designed to stifle protest against governmental action.

Judge Johnston will hear evidence in the fee matter Oct. 9, in Tallahassee.

Attorney Edward de la Parte, representing Seminole County in the dispute, said it's all proper.

"The prevailing party has the right to have costs reimbursed," de la Parte said.

He estimated Seminole County's costs for the hearing process at $1.5 million.

Petitions for an administrative hearing should not be for frivolous or improper purposes, he said. He said the petition filed by the Riverkeeper and Jacksonville were.

The two parties did not litigate "the issues at hand," de la Parte said, but based their arguments on what could happen in the future.

Though Seminole County applied to the Water Management District for a initial permit to pull up to 5.5 million gallons of water a day (mgd) from the river, long-range plans call for 70 or 80 mgd to come out of the St. Johns at Yankee Lake, to be processed for use by residents and businesses.

De la Parte said Seminole County is planning facilities that can handle much more than 5.5 mgd. Doing so, he added, is much easier and more cost-effective than coming back later to expand facilities and replace 30-inch pipes with 60-inch pipes.

"It's just good engineering," he said.

Counties like St. Johns and Duval and the City of Jacksonville are worried Yankee Lake will lower the water level in the north-flowing river, an effect that would show up in the St. Johns by the time the river reaches their area.

The St. Johns Riverkeeper, whose mission is to protect the river, is also worried about the effects of the plant on aquatic life in the river, especially since the Yankee Lake plant is expected to discharge concentrated salt and waste back into the river after filtering it from the water.

Riverkeeper Executive Director Orth said the nonprofit organization has limited resources.

"We're doing our best to protect the river," Orth said, while Seminole County is spending money "to try to silence, intimidate a citizen's group that has legitimate concerns about a project."

Orth said Seminole County, on the other hand, stands to profit by becoming the regional water supplier to surrounding utility companies through the Yankee Lake project.

So far, Seminole County hasn't been able to convince local utility companies to sign up to buy water from Yankee Lake. The County of Volusia, DeLand, Deltona, and other utility-providers attended meetings and presentations on Yankee Lake over the past couple of years, but backed away from signing commitments that would require them to pay a lot money up front for uncertain returns.

Orth said the way the Water Management District applies and interprets rules makes it difficult to contest its approval of the plant. Nevertheless, the Governing Board's decision on Yankee Lake was close, 5-4, in favor of letting the project proceed.

"We proved in the hearing we had legitimate concerns," Orth said.

He said the Water Management District has started to "come around," recognizing the benefits of water conservation, instead of just looking for more sources of water.

Riverkeeper Armingeon said Seminole's strategy has been to "bully" the Riverkeeper into silence, with threats of legal sanctions.

Riverkeeper attorney Michael Howle said Seminole County is going after him, too. That means the Riverkeeper has to hire another attorney for this matter, running up the Riverkeeper's bill as a new attorney gets familiar with the case.

Howle said filing a motion for sanctions in this type of case is a "very unorthodox thing to do." He called it intimidation.

City of Jacksonville Attorney Jason Teal said if Seminole County is successful in the suit, it would have the effect of chilling local governments' ability to participate in these sorts of reviews. It would make them shy away from involvement.

Teal said the case against the Yankee Lake project is valid, and will go to the Fifth District Court of Appeals on Aug. 28.

The St. Johns River runs directly through Jacksonville, before it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The city and others on the river's northern stretch receive "the harms and benefits of what happens in other parts of it," Teal said.

Seminole County will have the burden of proof in the case. Teal said he will make his case first, that Seminole County is not entitled to the money, and second, the amount is not reasonable.

Seminole attorney de la Parte said the losing party in the fees case can appeal to a higher court.

"I think we would appeal if we lost, based on what I know so far," he said.

The Yankee Lake Project is on track, with this phase scheduled for completion in 2011, de la Parte said.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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