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Sierra Club Lawsuits

Everglades Saved from Limestone Mining as Judge Finds Permits Defective

Case Updates:

March 23, 2006

Over half of the original wetland areas in southern Florida have been destroyed, making the Everglades National Park the last stop for an extraordinary number of rare and sensitive animals and plants. In 1999, recognizing the immediate threats posed to the park by unchecked development and spurred on by a congressional mandate, the Corps of Engineers developed the Everglades Restoration Plan, which seeks to repair the damage wrought upon the Everglades by utilizing adjacent areas outside the park to help restore the natural hydrology within the park. However, just as this plan was being implemented, the Corps decided to allow private open-pit hard rock mining on over 5,000 acres of Lakebelt wetlands, an area deemed critical to successful restoration. Sierra Club, joined by other environmental groups, went to court to stop this ill-conceived plan and to protect drinking water supplies in the Miami-Dade region. In March 2006, we scored a victory in the campaign when U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler ruled that the permits were faulty and defective. The judge will hold a hearing in May to make a final decision on what to do about mining activities while the permits and environmental studies are redone. The ruling is a huge victory for the imperiled park and the animals that depend on it.

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