Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Martha Collins, Collins & West, P.A.
March 3, 2009 (813) 273-9166 or (727) 643-7746

PERMIT DENIED FOR REACH 8
Judge Determines Harm to Environment Outweighs Need for Project

Palm Beach, FL –Administrative Law Judge Robert E. Meale ruled late yesterday that the Town of Palm Beach be denied a Joint Coastal Permit to dredge and fill Reach 8. In March of 2008, the Surfrider Foundation, Snook Foundation, and three individuals filed suit against the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for approving a Joint Coastal Permit for the Town of Palm Beach to nourish Reach 8. The Town of Palm Beach intervened on behalf of the DEP, and the City of Lake Worth and Eastern Surfing Association intervened in opposition of the project. The trial lasted three weeks, ending in October of last year.

Reach 8 is one of eleven reaches of beach within the County of Palm Beach. The Town of Palm Beach filled Reach 7 two years ago costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. Reach 7 caused substantial environmental harm to the local coastal resources and has already significantly eroded away.

The Town of Palm Beach was proposing more of the same in their attempt to nourish Reach 8. Reach 8 extends 1.8 miles and includes beaches within the Town of Palm Beach and the City of Lake Worth. The Town of Palm Beach proposed dredging offshore and filling in 700,000 cubic yards of fill material on Reach 8 directly burying seven acres of nearshore hardbottom reef.

The City of Lake Worth maintains a public park within Reach 8 and opted out of the Joint Coastal Permit due to the projects’ potential to harm their environmental resources and local economy dependent on them.

“The Judge clearly grasped the significance of the geological and biological coastal systems in this area and their rarity. His ruling focused extensively on the overwhelming data from numerous experts that supported the denial of this permit,” said attorney Jane West, whose firm Collins & West, P.A. represented the five petitioners.

Rob Young, Director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University and an expert witness in the case expressed admiration for the judge’s ruling. "Judge Meale took a very hard look at the numerical computer model used to predict where the nourishment sand would go, and he strongly criticized its use," Young said. "This same model, GENESIS, is used all over the country for the design of beach nourishment projects. The Judge’s ruling is a serious indictment of that practice."

The five petitioners proved the dredge-and-fill project would destroy the beach and coastal environment by directly burying reefs, killing marine life, including endangered sea turtles, and overall destabilizing fishing, diving, surfing and other valuable recreational uses of the area.

“This is a tremendous win for Florida’s Beaches,” said attorney Martha Collins, also of Collins & West, P.A.. “To our knowledge, this is the first time that any court in the US has flatly rejected the permitting of an approved beach nourishment project due primarily to the potential negative environmental impacts.”

“It is time for the State of Florida to re-examine its policies on beach management and realize these dredge and fill projects can be detrimental to the coastal environment they are alleged to be protecting,” continued Collins.

“We look forward to working with our experts and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in opening dialogue and coordinating our efforts toward better implementation of Florida’s beach management programs,” said Ericka Davanzo, Surfrider's regional manager in Florida.

Judge Meale’s ruling is an order of recommendation to Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Michael Sole, who will now have 45 days to issue the final order.

To view the Judge’s ruling please visit http://www.doah.state.fl.us/ros/2008/08001511.pdf

For more information please feel free to visit the following:
www.collins-west.com
www.savelakeworth.blogspot.com
www.surfrider.org

Quotes

AFTER WITNESSING THE ECOLOGICAL DEVASTATION ALONG THE COAST CAUSED BY DREDGE AND FILL PROJECTS FOR SO MANY YEARS, I AM VERY PLEASED WITH THE DECISION JUDGE MEALE HAS MADE TO DENY THE TOWN OF PALM BEACH THE REACH 8 PERMIT. HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE AND AN ECOLOGICAL JEWEL HAS BEEN SPARED. THE RULING IS A HUGE VICTORY FOR THE FISHING COMMUNITY. AFTER SEEING WHAT HAPPENED DUE TO THE REACH 7 PROJECT I FIRMLY BELIEVE HAD THE REACH 8 PERMIT BEEN ISSUED THE LOSS OF MARINE HABITAT WOULD HAVE BEEN ANOTHER ECOLOGICAL DISASTER. I HAVE HIGH HOPES THAT THE RULING WILL SET PRESEDENCE IN FUTURE CASES FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. ALL OF THE PLAINTIFFS AND COUNCIL IN THIS CASE ARE TO BE COMMENDED FOR THEIR VALIANT EFFORTS AND I'M HONORED TO CALL THEM MY FRIENDS. THE OCEANS ARE OURS TO PROTECT AND THEY ARE ERIPLACABLE. THIS IS A GREAT DAY AND I AM ONE HAPPY FISHING GUIDE.

CAPT. DANNY BARROW
PRESIDENT, SILVER LINING FISH CHARTERS

The outcome of this litigation is ground-breaking, demonstrating that broader public can make their concerns heard to protect public trust habitat and beach and ocean uses. Rigorous interdisciplinary investigations of the predictions made by consultants for the project were shown to be unreliable, putting valuable nearshore fish habitats and other nearby beaches at risk of degradation by transport of deposition of sediments that are not beach-quality sands.

Dr. Charles H. Peterson
Alumni Distinguished Professor of Marine Sciences, Biology, and Ecology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an expert witness in the case.

Judge Meale took a very hard look at the numerical computer model used to predict where the nourishment sand would go, and he strongly criticized its use," Young said. "This same model, GENESIS, is used all over the country for the design of beach nourishment projects. The Judge’s ruling is a serious indictment of that practice.

Dr. Rob Young, Director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University and an expert witness in the case.

Seminars/Publications

Martha Collins spoke on the implications of beach nourishment projects in Florida at the Fifteenth Annual Public Interest Environmental Conference. University of Florida Levin College of Law Gainesville, Fla. Feb. 26 - Feb. 28, 2009.

Articles

Read about the REACH 8 win

http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/content/news/2009/03/02/reach8web0303.html

Read the latest about Collins & West, PA's representation of the Surfrider Foundation and the Snook Foundation's challenge to a beach dredge & fill project in Palm Beach.
http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/content/news/noreach0319.html

Read about Collins & West, PA's representation of the Sims Road Alliance in the Sun Sentinel "Residents rally to fight proposed development in Delray Beach".
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpaspen0204pnfeb04,0,6399805.story

Community

Martha Collins was recently elected as Treasurer for the Environmental and Land Use Section of the Florida Bar.

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