From the Southern Environmental Law Center
April 1, 2009
Ruling marks a key victory for environmentalists in
decades long fight
* For more information:
http://ga1.org/ct/X7ssD7F1yzxF//cases/king_william_reservoir_va/updates/
A federal court has overturned a permit
issued by the Corps of Engineers for a massive impoundment in
King William County, Virginia that would have resulted in the
single largest, authorized loss of wetlands in the mid Atlantic
region in the last 37 years. The US District Court in DC
ruled late yesterday that the Corps' finding that the reservoir
proposed by Newport News would not cause significant harm to the
environment was "arbitrary and capricious."
"This is a strong ruling by the court that the environmental
costs of the proposed reservoir far outweigh the benefit," said
SELC Senior Attorney Deborah Murray, who represents three
environmental plaintiff groups in the years-long legal fight to
stop the project. "We're extremely pleased."
Newport News and a consortium of five other Virginia localities
has sought for decades to build the King William reservoir,
which includes a 1,500 acre impoundment on Cohoke Creek (a
tributary of the Pamunkey River) and a pipeline to withdraw
water from the Mattaponi River, both tributaries to the
Chesapeake Bay. The project would destroy 400 acres of wetlands
and inundate 21 stream miles, as well as harm the livelihoods
and cultural sites of Native Americans. Cost estimates from last
year put the project at $289 million.
In 2001, the Norfolk District of the Corps rejected the project
on grounds it would significantly degrade water and wetland
resources and that Newport News had greatly inflated its water
needs. Independent studies show that the projected water need
for the region would be less than half the amount that Newport
News claimed to justify the project. However, the Corps' North
Atlantic Division ultimately issued the permit in November 2005.
The Southern Environmental Law Center filed suit in US
District Court in 2006 on behalf of the Alliance to Save the
Mattaponi, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the Virginia Chapter
of the Sierra Club.
Federal Judge Henry Kennedy, in his 33 page ruling yesterday,
held that the Corps' finding that no other less environmentally damaging alteratives existed was arbitrary and capricious because of Newport News' significantly inflated demand projections and the Corps' failure adequately to examine alternatives in light of the reduced need and higher cost of the reservoir. Likewise, the court found that the Corps' claim that the wetland mitigation plan would adequately compenstate for the ecological function and value of the lost wetlands was arbitrary and capricious.
The judge also ruled in favor of the environmental groups'
challenge of the US Environmental Protection Agency's failure
to veto the permit. He remanded the permit to the Corps for
review in light of the court's findings.
"This project was ill conceived and environmentally destructive
when it was proposed 20 years ago, and the court is saying it
still is," said Jon Mueller, litigation director for the
Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). "The immense damage that would
be caused by this project was always out of proportion to the
alleged need."
"We sincerely hope that Newport News will finally turn its
attention to other, less destructive means of supplying water to
the region, including conservation and efficiency," Murray said.
"We also hope the Corps and the EPA, both of which are bound by
law to ensure the health of the nation's water resources,
ultimately reject this oversized and harmful project."
CONTACT:
Deborah Murry, Senior Attorney, (434)977-4090
Representing:
Alliance to Save the Mattaponi
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Sierra Club, Virginia Chapter
