The
Environmental group Earthjustice has filed a lawsuit against the Army
Corps of Engineers over its management of the Apalachicola
Chattahoochee Flint River basin.
Earthjustice
said the purpose of the suit is to compel the Corps to comply with
federal environmental laws in its management of the river system.
Earthjustice
is representing the National Wildlife Federation, the Florida
Wildlife Federation, and the Apalachicola Riverkeeper in the federal
suit filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia.
The
lawsuit claims that the Corps of Engineers failed to properly protect
the environment when it developed a water management plan that will
regulate freshwater flows through the ACF River system for decades to
come.
The
lawsuit also argues that the Corps’ plan, and the environmental
impact statement used to develop the plan, violate several federal
environmental laws including the National Environmental Policy Act,
the Water Resources Development Act, and the Fish and Wildlife
Coordination Act.
The
suit asks the Court to order the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
re-do the water management plan and environmental impact statement to
comply with federal environmental laws.
Apalachicola
Riverkeeper Dan Tonsmeier said “A
whole way of life in the seafood industry is being pulled apart
before our eyes. It’s a heartless allocation that unnecessarily
hurts Florida.”
He
adde thadt The ecosystem can come back if our leaders manage the
river in a way that doesn’t favor some interests over others.
The
lawsuit is the latest move in the decades long
water war between Florida and Georgia over how water is allocated in
the river system.
The
new water control manual allows Georgia to withdraw 242 million
gallons per day from Lake Lanier and up to 379 million gallons a day
by 2050.
Florida
has argued that Georgia’s unchecked water consumption has brought
historically-low water flows into the Apalachicola Bay and has caused
oysters to die because of higher salinity, increased disease and
predator intrusion.
Until
recently, Apalachicola Bay accounted for approximately 10 percent of
the nation’s Eastern oyster supply.
The
oyster industry in Apalachicola collapsed in 2012 leading to a
Commercial Fisheries Disaster Declaration from the U.S. Department of
Commerce in 2013.
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