Creppel v. United States

30 Fed. Cl. 323, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 11, 1994 WL 12749
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJanuary 18, 1994
DocketNos. 91-1262L, 91-1505L, 91-1508L and 91-1509L
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 30 Fed. Cl. 323 (Creppel v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Creppel v. United States, 30 Fed. Cl. 323, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 11, 1994 WL 12749 (uscfc 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

NETTESHEIM, Judge.

This case is before the court after argument on defendant’s motion for summary judgment or, in the alternative, for partial summary judgment. The issue to be decided is whether plaintiffs timely have filed their complaints alleging unlawful takings of their properties stemming from government action under the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251-1387 (1988).

FACTS

The following facts are undisputed, unless otherwise noted. Plaintiffs are owners of property in an area known as the Bayou aux Carpes site, a 3,200-acre tract located in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana (“Jefferson Parish”). Prior to initiation of the project at issue in this lawsuit, the site was unlevied and undrained. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) considers approximately 3,000 of the 3,200 acres at the site to be wetlands as defined in 40 C.F.R. § 230.3(t) (1992).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”) first proposed the Harvey Canal— Bayou Barataría Levee Project (the “Project”) as a flood control project in 1961. The Corps approved the Project in January 1964 with provisions for levying and draining the entire Bayou aux Carpes site. While defendant claims that the primary purpose of the Project was flood protection, plaintiffs claim that an equal, if not more important, feature was land reclamation.1

In 1967 voters in the drainage area approved a bond issue of $3,600,000.00 to be used to construct the Project and a number of associated drainage works. In 1969 the Jefferson Parish Council obtained the servitudes necessary for the Project in consideration for “the benefits and improvements to be derived by Grantors and the enhanced value resulting to Grantors’ properties which will accrue as a result of the said Harvey Canal-Barataria Levee Project.” Creppel v. Parish of Jefferson, 384 So.2d 853, 854 (La.Ct.App.), cert. denied, 392 So.2d 689 (La.1980).

Project construction was to be completed in two stages: Phase I, consisting primarily of construction of the levees; and Phase II, the installation of the pumping station at the Bayou aux Carpes site. Creppel, 384 So.2d at 854. Phase I construction was completed in 1973, rendering the Project 80 percent complete. At this point all federal funds available for the Project were expended. Jefferson Parish was to finance and complete the remaining work — the installation of the pumping station and the closure of the levy. The contract for construction of the pumping station was let in 1974.

[325]*325Because the construction of the levies involved the use of fill material, the Project fell under the permit requirement of section 404(a) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1344 (the “CWA”). On February 18, 1974, Jefferson Parish applied for a section 404 permit to install the pumping station and to close the levee using dredge material pursuant to an interim Corps regulation. The Corps returned this permit application before final action was taken on it following promulgation of the final regulation on April 3,1974, which specifically excluded Corps civil works projects from the permit requirement.

The Corps halted construction on the Project in November of 1974 in order to conduct a public hearing and public interest review of the Project required by section 404. At that point $1,000,000.00 in federal funds and approximately $3 million in local funds had been expended on the Project. Section 404(c) of the CWA allows EPA to override any Corps decision to issue a dredge or fill permit if the Administrator of EPA

determines, after notice and opportunity for public hearings, that the discharge of such materials into such area will have an unacceptable adverse effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas ..., wildlife, or recreational areas.

33 U.S.C. § 1344(c). Thus, even though the Corps may approve a project under section 404(a), EPA still has the option of vetoing the Corps decision under its section 404(c) power.

Although the Corps eventually decided to proceed with the Project, EPA objected to the destruction of wetlands that would result from drainage of the area. By letter dated April 25, 1975, EPA Region VI objected to the Corps’ Statement of Findings, stating that

the permanent blocking of Bayou des Families and Bayou aux Carpes and the subsequent draining of the area enclosed by the ring levee would result in the irretrievable loss of wetlands, have an unacceptable adverse impact on wildlife and recreational areas, and not be in the public interest.

Final Determination of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Assistant Administrator for External Affairs Concerning the Bayou aux Carpes Site in Jefferson Louisiana Pursuant to Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, dated October 16, 1985, at 4 (the “EPA Final Determination”). The Corps resisted EPA’s opposition, however, citing frustration of the Project’s land reclamation benefits and the refusal of Jefferson Parish to finance the modified Project. During negotiations that followed between EPA and the Corps, Brigadier General Drake Wilson, Deputy Director of Civil Works, continued to press his opinion that the Project should be completed as originally planned. EPA again registered its opposition, although it did not initiate a section 404(c) action. After a meeting between the Corps and EPA in August 1976, EPA’s opposition hardened though, with EPA indicating that it would exercise its section 404(c) veto power if the Project was not changed to eliminate destruction of the wetlands.

In response to EPA’s opposition, General Wilson conducted a site visit and met with representatives of Jefferson Parish, EPA, property owners, environmental organizations, and members of the concerned public on October 7,1976. The General pointed out to a Jefferson Parish councilman that there would be litigation regardless of the decision that was eventually made, either “a suit by the civic groups, if they attempted to construct the pumping station, or a suit by the landowners, if they attempted to install the floodgates.” Creppel, 384 So.2d at 855. Concerned that construction of the pumping station would provoke an immediate EPA veto, General Wilson reversed his position and issued an order on November 16, 1976, revising the Project to reflect a compromise between the need to protect wetlands and the need to provide protection from flooding.

The ‘Wilson Order” provided for completion of the flood control dikes, but replaced the pumping station with movable flood gates. With the pumping station removed from the Project, the land reclamation benefits of the Project were eliminated, leaving only the flood control benefits. The order explained that these changes were made in exchange for EPA’s and local environmental groups’ assurances that they would drop their opposition to the Project. Completion [326]*326of the revised Project was to be performed by Jefferson Parish because federal funds for the Project had been exhausted.

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30 Fed. Cl. 323, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 11, 1994 WL 12749, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/creppel-v-united-states-uscfc-1994.