St. Johns Riverkeeper will challenge river-dredging project in federal court

[thelakelander]

After years of debate and a more recent attempt at compromise that has so far stalled out, the St. Johns Riverkeeper filed a letter of intent Tuesday indicating it plans to move forward with a federal lawsuit against the proposed project to dredge the river, arguing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has grossly underestimated the project's potential environmental damage, fallen woefully short of providing adequate river protections and has failed to fully vet the economic benefits of dredging.

Full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/2015-08-11/story/st-johns-riverkeeper-will-challenge-river-dredging-project-federal-court

[strider]

Glad to see this. Love the river, understand some of this is needed, but the numbers certainly do not seem to add up. Not to mention the great track record the ACofE has with issues like this.

[Tacachale]

Sigh.

[Charles Hunter]

Very interesting ...

[Ocklawaha]

Another Jacksonville battle cry to "ADVANCE TO THE REAR!"

[PeeJayEss]

Another Jacksonville battle cry to "ADVANCE TO THE REAR!"

Right, because deepening the river is really going to make us a top-tier city.

[Tacachale]

Another Jacksonville battle cry to "ADVANCE TO THE REAR!"

Right, because deepening the river is really going to make us a top-tier city.

Given the resources at the Riverkeeper's disposal, they can either mount a costly legal challenge they'll lose, or work with the port and city on mitigating whatever environmental impact deepening would have. Their choice.

[Andy]

They attempted the latter option for well over a year already, to mostly deaf ears. I don't blame them, even if they do lose. It's funny how everybody is all for accountability in city developments until it goes against their personal desires. Then all of a sudden it's 'anti-progress.'

[vicupstate]

They attempted the latter option for well over a year already, to mostly deaf ears. I don't blame them, even if they do lose. It's funny how everybody is all for accountability in city developments until it goes against their personal desires. Then all of a sudden it's 'anti-progress.'

Yeah, just as fiscal conservatives question every expenditure of government except what goes to 'business' and boondoggles that they support.

[Tacachale]

They attempted the latter option for well over a year already, to mostly deaf ears. I don't blame them, even if they do lose. It's funny how everybody is all for accountability in city developments until it goes against their personal desires. Then all of a sudden it's 'anti-progress.'

No, the city, port and Army Corps of Engineers jumped right on board with demolishing the Rodman dam, for instance. There's plenty more they'd be willing to do. But obstructionism will just make them say screw it, they're going win this suit and the project will go ahead anyway, but everyone will have spent a lot of money and time.

[tufsu1]

^ yeah but Mayor Curry just disbanded the dredging task force and is full steam ahead with whatever JaxPort decides they want

[Tacachale]

^Yep, and I'm sure poorly conceived legal challenges are going to result in a positive outcome.

[Andy]

What would you do then if you were SJRK?

Not being glib, I genuinely want to know what sort of other options might make sense, if not legal intervention.

[Tacachale]

What would you do then if you were SJRK?

Not being glib, I genuinely want to know what sort of other options might make sense, if not legal intervention.

Push for further mitigation. The Rodman Dam is a good start but it's going to be tricky considering how strongly Palatka interests want it there. Get a commitment to take waste water mitigation seriously, to ultimately remove home septic lines dumping into the river, and to fight further pollution and water abstraction in Central Florida. Any of those things will impact the river as a whole as much or more than this dredging will do, and will be things the city and port could probably get behind with some prodding. Hell, the city could probably rebuild the old oyster beds for less than the Army Corps will spend on this lawsuit, and at least something positive would come from it. At this point I'm not sure they'll do anything beyond fighting for the Rodman project.

[thelakelander]

More fallout:

Citing an unworkable time line for progress, the JAX Chamber is pulling out of a highly touted truce it helped craft with an environmental watchdog that was intended to avoid a potentially time-consuming court battle over the controversial project to dredge the St. Johns River.
The chamber's exit from the unlikely alliance — a fragile partnership with the St. Johns Riverkeeper, Jacksonville City Hall and JaxPort — virtually ensures the Riverkeeper will push full steam ahead with a federal lawsuit alleging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' dredging plan fails to include adequate river protections.

full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/2015-08-14/story/jax-chamber-pulls-out-highly-touted-river-dredging-truce-environmental