State rejected in manatee lawsuit – harputburgerwiesbaden

TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge has rejected a state attempt to end a lawsuit over manatee deaths in the Indian River Lagoon and said a trial is needed to determine whether the Florida Department of Environmental Protection violated the Endangered Species Act way of extinction.

U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza issued a 17-page order last week, backing environmental group Bear Warriors United’s arguments that sewage discharges into the Indian River Lagoon have led to the disappearance of seagrass and the consequent death of manatees .

But he said he had to determine whether there was a “continuing violation” of federal law. Mendoza rejected a state motion for summary judgment that would have short-circuited a trial.

“As such, the only factual issue remaining for the jury is whether there is a continuing risk of manatee take under the FDEP’s (Florida Department of Environmental Protection) regulatory regime,” Mendoza wrote.

Bear Warriors United filed the lawsuit in 2022, alleging the department failed to adequately regulate sewage treatment plants and septic systems, leading to spills that killed seagrass — a vital food source for manatees — in -a northern portion of the Indian River Lagoon.

Florida has seen a record 1,100 manatee deaths in 2021, with the highest number, 358, in Brevard County, at the center of the trial. Many deaths were linked to starvation.

The state had 800 manatee deaths in 2022, before the number dropped to 555 in 2023, according to data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The state has reported 538 manatee deaths this year as of Dec. 13.

Mendoza in September also denied a state motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which names former Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Shawn Hamilton as a defendant.

Ruling last week on certain aspects of the case, including that the discharges resulted in seagrass kills and manatee deaths, Mendoza granted part of a summary judgment motion by Bear Warriors United — but the issue of ongoing risks remains to be resolved .

In its motion for summary judgment, Bear Warriors United said the department “has known for decades that the septic tanks and sewage plants it permits release human nitrogen” that causes problems such as algal blooms in the lagoon.

“DEP thereby authorizes the destruction of the lagoon’s ability to support seagrass and other macroalgae, which are essential food sources for the survival of manatees,” the group’s attorneys wrote. “As such, DEP’s regulatory regime for septic tanks and wastewater facilities directly and indirectly results in the illegal “taking” of manatees in violation of (a section of the Endangered Species Act), and this court must issue an ordinance requiring compliance with the ESA (Endangered Species Act) to prevent the further taking of manatees.”

But in the state’s motion for summary judgment, attorneys wrote that Florida has taken steps in recent years to try to reduce discharges into the lagoon and contested that it violated the Endangered Species Act. The motion said “the department’s actions are not the immediate cause of any harm” to the manatees, which are classified as a threatened species.

“The record shows that DEP did not authorize or authorize any party to cause a violation of water quality standards,” the state’s motion states. “Instead, he worked diligently to restore a damaged water. There is no immediate cause. DEP is entitled to judgment as a matter of law because, without any dispute of material fact, it did not violate the ESA.”

The lawsuit involves part of the Indian River Lagoon from the Melbourne Causeway in Brevard County to Turnbull Creek in southern Volusia County.