Town of Golden Beach v. Army Corps of Engineers, Civ. No. 94-1816 (S.D. Fla. 1994)
Case Summary:
On behalf of the Florida town of Golden Beach and environmental groups, we won an injunction from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, halting the "renourishment" of Miami Beach until the United States Army Corps of Engineers engaged in additional environmental review and solicited the views of the local communities most likely to be adversely affected. The "renourishment" project, which entailed digging up tons of sand from the ocean floor and dumping it on the beach, threatened harm both to the fragile coral reefs in the area as well as endangered turtle species. The Miami Herald referred to this case as the "first big battle" over beach renourishment in Florida.
In a separate challenge to another renourishment project, we represented a marine biologist and St. Lucie, Florida environmental activists, in an effort to halt a dredging operation that the plaintiffs feared would wipe out several unique marine organisms. After we won a temporary restraining order against the multi-million dollar project, we settled the case, with the Corps agreeing to avoid dredging near the organisms and to spend several hundred thousand dollars funding future research.
Plaintiffs: The Town of Golden Beach, Biodiversity Associates, and individuals.
Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida