Lafayette's new City-Parish Attorney has dismissed the LCG appeal of a federal decision in the controversial spoil banks case.
According to a release, City-Parish Attorney Patrick S. Ottinger has filed an unopposed motion to dismiss the appeal currently pending in the United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans.
Back in September, a federal judge dismissed all but one of LCG's claims in a suit against St. Martin Parish and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the case.
The Guillory administration's legal team appealed that decision. That's the appeal that Ottinger has dismissed. A different suit over the same issues, filed by St. Martin Parish Government against LCG in state court, remains pending.
Also pending are investigations by the FBI, the Corps, the state Legislative Auditor and the federal Environmental Protection Agency into various issues related to the case.
"The lawsuit arose from the removal of a spoil bank on the Vermilion River in February of 2022, located on or adjacent to land in St. Martin Parish. Following the project's execution, the Corps of Engineers issued a Cease and Desist Order to Lafayette, citing "unauthorized deposition and redistribution of dredged and fill material in waters of the U.S. and authorized work in navigable waters of the U.S." The Cease and Desist Order also highlighted an "apparent violation" of pertinent Federal laws, including the Rivers and Harbors Act and the Clean Water Act," the release states. "The Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government sought a judicial determination through the lawsuit that its actions did not contravene any Federal law or St. Martin Parish ordinance. However, the court dismissed the suit, ruling that the Cease and Desist Order issued by the Corps of Engineers did not constitute a "final" order, a prerequisite for a suit under the Federal Administrative Procedures Act."
"The dismissal of this appeal enables the administration to engage with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and representatives of St. Martin Parish in a conciliatory manner in an effort to reach a resolution of issues pertaining to this project," Ottinger is quoted as saying in the release.
At issue is a project that LCG already has completed in St. Martin Parish, which removed decades-old levees on property partially owned by LCG. St. Martin Parish officials said that LCG did the project in the dark of night, and without permits from either the parish or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. LCG already had filed for a permit at a different location with the Corps; that permit application was withdrawn after St. Martin told the Corps that no parish permits for it would be granted. The project has reportedly sparked numerous investigations, including ongoing probes by the Legislative Auditor, the FBI, the EPA and the Corps. To read some of our stories about it, click here, here, here and here.
In general terms, most of the objections to the LCG lawsuit were based on the idea that it was premature. In particular, the Corps argued that LCG couldn't ask the court to rule that LCG hadn't violated any rules or laws until the Corps finished their investigation into the project. In his ruling, the court refers to LCG's position as "convoluted" and outlines the attempts made to cure the issues in LCG's claims.
New information did come out in these various motions; in the Corps' Motion to Dismiss, they revealed that they had called in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to investigate "flagrant, wilful violations" in the project. We reached out to the EPA, who told us the agency has "received this case and is currently reviewing it."
The Corps also stated that they had "issued a Cease-and-Desist Order to Plaintiff confirming (Clean Water Act and Rivers and Harbors Act) violations." To read that story, click here.
The Current has posted several stories about the process surrounding the project, including the contract - which cost $3.7 million but was never publicly bid because LCG used a $390,000 "as-needed excavation" contractor to do the work. To read that story, click here.
