Seventeen months after the project was first publicly announced,
the Cement
Plant at the Ichetucknee is still tied up in court. There are
three cases
alive:
The first was launched when
the Suwannee County Commission on
December 15, 1998 approved a site and development plan for the Suwannee
American Cement Co. project. The approval relied on a clause
in the
County's Comprehensive Plan which allows, in rural areas, approval
by the
Commission (after but one meeting) of "resource-based activities" without
going through the usual channels of Special Exceptions, Zoning Changes,
and
the like -- which are ordinarily expected when an Heavy Industrial
Chemical
Plant is proposed in an agricultural zone. The opponents
[represented in
this case by three Suwannee County residents who volunteered their
names]
appealed this action to the Suwannee County Circuit Court. The
local
circuit court sided with the County Commission. The opponents
then
appealed that decision to the First District Court of Appeals, located
in
Tallahassee. The results of that appeal will probably not be
known for
several months. During the appeal process, the Company does have
its
County permit to construct the plant.
However, a second permit
is needed: an "Air Construction" permit
from the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection which deals with
air
pollutants. At first, the DEP denied the permit in June 1999,
based on the
history of non-compliance with environmental permits by the family
of
companies known generally as Anderson/Columbia. Then, in November
DEP
reversed itself, announced a "Settlement Agreement" with the family
of
companies, and announced the intent to issue the permit. The
opponents
[represented in this case by two environmental groups: Save Our
Suwannee,
Inc. and Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club] stayed the permit by filing
an
appeal claiming that mercury emissions would significantly pollute
the
neighboring three rivers (Ichetucknee, Santa Fe, and Suwannee), all
of
which are Outstanding Florida Waters, legally requiring the greatest
level
of protection. The arguments have been heard in the appeal, but
the
decision is yet to be made. Whether the permit is issued depends
on this
decision. The decision, however, can be appealed to the First
District
Court.
The third case deals with
legal technicalities relating to the DEP
denial, followed five months later with a reversal. A settlement
between
that Department and the Company involved penalties, trade-offs, the
gift of
land, the willingness to sell a mine that the State had been trying
to
acquire, etc. There are questions regarding the propriety and
legality of
the process followed. Also, whether the settlement satisfies
the
requirements of the EPA Clear Air and Clean Water Acts, which DEP has
been
delegated to admininister (but not to change), and, also, whether DEP
has
wrongly been involved in a negotiation process so that it must disqualify
itself from making further judgments on the permit, and so on.
The case
[the opponents are represented by volunteer citizens who stand to be
affected by the potential development] has been assigned to an
Administrative Law Judge, but has not yet been fully prepared and heard.
DEP's failure to disqualify itself has been appealed to the First District
Court. This appeal will hold up the permit for a minumum of several
months
from now, and is subject to further appeals.
What can concerned citizens
now do? Many, many persons from all
around Florida have sent donations to the Cement Legal Fund.
Although we
have had much legal help that is donated or offered at reduced rates,
the
costs continue to mount. Send donations to Save Our Suwannee,
Inc., P. O.
Box 669, Bell, FL 32619. Mark your checks: "Cement
Fund".
Also, write a letter to
Gov. Bush, The Capitol, Tallahassee, FL
32399-0001 OR phone: (850) 488-4441 OR e-mail
<fl_governor@eog.state.fl.us>
State in your own words the outrage you feel about locating this heavy
industry so close to the State Park and the threatening the future
of the
entire three-rivers area.
Although officially the decision is not in the Governor's hands, he
has
been influential so far; and the reputation of his administration is
at
stake.
dated: April 4, 2000
Svenn Lindskold, Save Our Suwannee, Inc.
Throughout these many months,
Save Our Suwannee, Inc., a Florida
non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation has administered the legal defense
fund.