US SUPREME COuRT CASE

SFWMD v. Miccosukee Tribe, et al.

The United States Supreme Court, on June 28, 2004, release its opinion in the lawsuit that Friends of the Everglades and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians brought against the South Florida Water Management District in 1998. The case involves the discharge of polluted water from the South Florida Water Management District pump station designated as the S-9. Both the Federal District Court and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals found in favor of Friends and the Tribe, that a federal Clean Water Act permit was required.

The Supreme Court agreed with every issue raised by Friends of the Everglades and the Miccosukee Tribe but remanded the case back to the US District Court for a factual determination of whether the C-11 basin (City of Weston area) and the Everglades are really two distinct areas. This factual determination is, in reality, self evident, however, for whatever reason there was just insufficient information in the record for the Court to cite to this distinction. We are disappointed that we have not reached finality in this matter after more than six years of litigation but are confident that the U.S. District Court will reach the right conclusion and our victory will be complete.

This case is very important both to the restoration of the Everglades and to the nation as a whole. It is important to Friends because it will require all water quality compliance to be at the point where the pollutants are discharged. It will also make clear that it is the Water Management District’s responsibility to get a Federal permit. It is important nationally because it will determine whether anyone can take water from one water body and discharge it into another that has higher water quality and a more protective classification than the water body being discharged from without a federal permit.

 

To learn more about this important case, click on the pictures to the left and follow the case with all of the petitions filed by all of the parties in the drop-down menu above. We will continue to update the progress of the case in the District Court. Thank you to all the supporters who are continuing to make this expensive case possible!

David P. Reiner
President, Friends of the Everglades

Case No.: 02-62

LEGAL DOCUMENTATION (pdfs)