By RON MATUS
Sun staff writer
Hurdles remain for cement plant
Despite a dramatic reversal by state officials two weeks ago, two legal
hurdles remain before a cement plant can be built near the Ichetucknee
River.
At a non-jury trial that begins today, lawyers for cement plant
opponents will argue that the Suwannee County Commission violated
its own comprehensive growth plan when it approved site plans for the
plant.
And at an administrative hearing set to begin Monday, opponents will
argue that state environmental officials did not fully weigh the effects
of
mercury fallout when they reviewed the permit application.
"We're by no means done," said plant opponent Virginia Seacrist.
"We're going to win on legal terms."
Company officials were as nonchalant as opponents were confident.
Legally, "it's hard to see what they're going to find to hang their hat
on,"
said Suwannee American spokesman Jim McClellan.
The legal proceedings come two weeks after Department of
Environmental Protection Secretary David Struhs shocked
environmentalists by saying the DEP would permit the $130 million
plant in exchange for company concessions.
Struhs had denied Suwannee American the permit in June, a few days
after canoeing the crystal-clear waters of the Ichetucknee with Gov.
Jeb Bush. DEP engineers said the plant would not harm the spring-fed
river, but Struhs cited the shoddy environmental record of Anderson
Columbia Inc., the Lake City-based road builder that is a close affiliate
of Suwannee American.
Environmentalists cheered. But on Nov. 19, Struhs said the DEP would
award the permit in return for concessions, including additional pollution
monitoring, a $1 million river study and the sale of a limerock mine that
some say is the Ichetucknee's biggest threat.
Struhs called the settlement "great news for the springs."
Environmentalists called it a betrayal.
Today's trial is set to begin in Live Oak at 9 a.m. before Circuit Judge
Thomas Kennon Jr. in the Suwannee County Courthouse.
Opponents say the Suwannee County Commission should not have
approved site plans for an industrial plant in an area zoned for
agriculture.
The Suwannee County comprehensive plan makes exceptions for
"resource-based activities" in agricultural areas, but it does not specify
what those activities are, said city of Alachua attorney Bill Ogle, who
is
representing plant opponents.
The plant will burn coal and used tires, produce 1 million tons of
cement each year and employ 80 people. It is slated to be built on 750
acres off U.S. 27 that another company related to Anderson Columbia
has mined for decades.
If opponents win in court, the company will be back to square one. The
Suwannee County Commission would likely have to apply to the state
for a comprehensive plan amendment before it could OK a new cement
plant proposal. A comp plan change requires a lengthy and rigorous
public review.
Opponents have friends in high places.
Lawyers for Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth are actively
helping their case. Butterworth's office is concerned about the plant's
effects on Ichetucknee Springs State Park, which is visited by 200,000
people each year.
Suwannee County commissioners say the plant is consistent with the
comprehensive plan.
If the judge sides with critics, the commission will continue pursuing
the
plant, which it values for the jobs and added tax base it will bring, said
Commission Chairman Don Odom.
"We'd go to another avenue," Odom said. "I don't know exactly what.
We'd have to go to a lawyer and see" what the options are.
Anderson Columbia officials say they're not worried - even with
Butterworth's lawyers in the courtroom. "We certainly don't think his
involvement in the case lends it any more merit," McClellan said. "The
facts are on our side. The law is on our side."
The administrative hearing on the mercury fallout is scheduled to begin
Monday in the Department of Transportation building on NW 39th
Avenue in Gainesville.
Opponents to the plant are expecting a delay.
Struhs told The Gainesville Sun on Nov. 19 that he would allow the
challenge to move forward, despite a recommendation by the hearing
officer assigned to the case that it be dropped. But as of Tuesday, he
had not issued a formal OK.
Neither Struhs nor DEP officials with knowledge of the issue could be
reached for comment Tuesday.
Opponents filed a challenge to the DEP's decision in June, in part
because of worries that the DEP might reverse course or that the
decision would be overturned in court. That challenge says the DEP did
not adequately assess potential mercury pollution from the plant.
Opponents filed another administrative challenge Monday, in part to
take advantage of a new time window allowing public comment on the
permit.
The new petition says Suwannee American officials still have not given
"reasonable assurance" that they will operate a cement plant safely.
Ron Matus can be reached at 374-5087 or matusr@gvillesun.com.