Nonprofit doesn’t owe legal fees in river lawsuit

Judge rules against Seminole County’s request

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Dec 27, 2009 - 8:45:23pm

St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon said it was like getting a Christmas present a little early.

On Dec. 21, Armingeon just had the news — his nonprofit watchdog group won’t have to pay Seminole County’s lawyer bills.

State Administrative Law Judge J. Lawrence Johnson denied Seminole’s attempt to collect legal fees and costs from the Riverkeeper and the City of Jacksonville in the legal dispute over Seminole County’s plan to build a water-withdrawal plant on the St. Johns River.

Both the Riverkeeper and Jacksonville filed objections with the St. Johns River Water Management District, then with Administrative Law Judge Johnson, to halt Seminole’s plan to withdraw 5.5 million gallons a day of water from the St. Johns at the Yankee Lake plant.

The judge ruled in Seminole County’s favor. On April 13, the Water Management District OK’d the Yankee Lake plan.

Seminole County then asked the judge to compel the Riverkeeper and Jacksonville to pay its legal and engineering fees and other expenses related to the administrative hearing. The total could have exceeded $1 million.

In an order dated Dec. 18, Judge Johnson dismissed the motion. He said there was no evidence the Riverkeeper or the City of Jacksonville had filed their objections frivolously or to harass Seminole County or cause unnecessary delays.

“When you’re allowed to exercise your constitutional rights, it’s a good thing,” Armingeon said.

City of Jacksonville Attorney Jason Teal said the ruling is good from a financial standpoint, of course, “but also from a public-participation standpoint.”

He said if Seminole County’s suit for fees had been granted, “It would have a chilling effect on local governments being able to participate in things like this.”

All jurisdictions along the river have a stake in and interest in what’s happening along the river, Teal said.

The message in Seminole County’s request for fees was: Be careful about challenging us, Teal said. While the suit was legally permissible, Teal sees it as an attempt to dissuade local governments from participating in challenges.

Attorney for Seminole County Edward de la Parte Jr. said he was reviewing the judge’s decision, and will advise county officials the first of the year if they should request an appeal. The county has 30 days to decide.

The battle over Yankee Lake is not over.

The Riverkeeper appealed the Water Management District’s approval of Yankee Lake. The next legal decision on the agenda will be the 5th District Court of Appeal’s ruling on that appeal.

The City of Jacksonville had also been a party to that suit. However, an issue of standing forced the city out of the process, Jacksonville Attorney Teal said.

While state law allowed the city to have standing in the administrative-law hearing, the appeals court has a higher bar for participation, he explained. Harm to the river would have been too far upstream for the city to demonstrate, for appeal-court purposes, that it would be affected by the plant.

Though Seminole County applied to the Water Management District for an 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.

The City of Jacksonville is concerned about the effects of lowering water levels in the northward-flowing river, the results of which would become apparent by the time the river reaches Jacksonville.

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 Yankee Lake is expected to discharge concentrated salt and waste back into the river after filtering it from the water.

Seminole County’s position has been that the plant will fulfill a need, and is within the scope of alternative-water-supply sources outlined by the Water Management District.

Attorney de la Parte said he expects oral arguments to be scheduled for February or March in the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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