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County settles with Sierra Club on pipeline
Thursday, September 23, 2004 | 1 comment(s)
The Associated Press
Coos County has settled a lawsuit brought against it by the Sierra Club, the Coos County Coalition and Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Project, related to alleged environmental damage caused by construction of the 60-mile natural gas pipeline from Roseburg to Coos Bay.
Under the agreement, Coos County will pay $55,000 to the plaintiffs' attorneys - the amount of their fees and costs incurred to date, according to a press release from county pipeline attorney Jay Waldron of the Portland law firm Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt. In exchange, the Sierra Club will drop its $4.3 million lawsuit against the county.
The county also agreed to complete supplemental environmental projects and restore the pipeline construction route under the terms of its recent settlement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Under that agreement, which was reached between the county and the Army Corps last week, the county will pay $495,000 to complete a series of fish passage improvement projects along the pipeline route over the next five years and to restore areas along the pipeline route impacted by MasTec's construction practices. The county also will pay $75,000 cash - in payments of $25,000 annually for the next three years - to the U.S. Treasury from the county's general fund.
Sierra Club attorneys argued that the county allowed Miami-based contractor MasTec Inc. to damage salmon spawning habitat while burying the pipeline.
The agreement with the Army Corps addressed the Sierra Club's concerns, according to Sierra Club attorney Thane Tienson.
"The county is going to pay the largest fine in Army Corps history in Oregon and we think that's entirely appropriate," Tienson said Wednesday.
"Despite the impacts this project has had, the magnitude of the county's fine sends a strong message that whether you're a county or a contractor, you need to take the Clean Water Act seriously."
The county hopes to recoup its losses in lawsuits filed against MasTec, which also is the target of suits by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups.
On Monday, a judge allowed the Sierra Club to amend its initial lawsuit against MasTec to include more than 10,000 alleged water quality violations, mostly related to the project's failure to install proper erosion-control measures.
"Sometimes it's best to put principles aside and think about how much it would cost to defend a lawsuit," Coos County Commissioner Nikki Whitty said this morning.
"With legal fees, it would have cost us easily twice as much," she added. "I figure $55,000 is not even a month's legal fees if we were to fight a lawsuit of the magnitude of the Sierra Club's. I think their goal is to make a point and if they're satisfied with the Corps' settlement, they'll step back."
The corps' settlement came a week after the state Department of Environmental Quality announced a $51,000 fine against the county and a $204,000 fine against MasTec for state water quality violations. The MasTec penalty was among the top 10 fines the Oregon DEQ has ever issued. The county is appealing the DEQ fine.
"Given the magnitude of the allegations, they were terrific settlements for the county," Waldron said.
When completed, the pipeline will bring natural gas to the largest metropolitan area in the West still without it. The lack of natural gas has been cited by companies that chose to locate outside Coos County.
The county terminated its agreement with MasTec in April and subsequently hired Rockford Corp. of North Plains to complete the work. The Board anticipates the pipeline to be completed by the end of the year.
- Staff Writer Amy Moss Strong contributed to this story.
Coos County has settled a lawsuit brought against it by the Sierra Club, the Coos County Coalition and Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Project, related to alleged environmental damage caused by construction of the 60-mile natural gas pipeline from Roseburg to Coos Bay.
Under the agreement, Coos County will pay $55,000 to the plaintiffs' attorneys - the amount of their fees and costs incurred to date, according to a press release from county pipeline attorney Jay Waldron of the Portland law firm Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt. In exchange, the Sierra Club will drop its $4.3 million lawsuit against the county.
The county also agreed to complete supplemental environmental projects and restore the pipeline construction route under the terms of its recent settlement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Under that agreement, which was reached between the county and the Army Corps last week, the county will pay $495,000 to complete a series of fish passage improvement projects along the pipeline route over the next five years and to restore areas along the pipeline route impacted by MasTec's construction practices. The county also will pay $75,000 cash - in payments of $25,000 annually for the next three years - to the U.S. Treasury from the county's general fund.
Sierra Club attorneys argued that the county allowed Miami-based contractor MasTec Inc. to damage salmon spawning habitat while burying the pipeline.
The agreement with the Army Corps addressed the Sierra Club's concerns, according to Sierra Club attorney Thane Tienson.
"The county is going to pay the largest fine in Army Corps history in Oregon and we think that's entirely appropriate," Tienson said Wednesday.
"Despite the impacts this project has had, the magnitude of the county's fine sends a strong message that whether you're a county or a contractor, you need to take the Clean Water Act seriously."
The county hopes to recoup its losses in lawsuits filed against MasTec, which also is the target of suits by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups.
On Monday, a judge allowed the Sierra Club to amend its initial lawsuit against MasTec to include more than 10,000 alleged water quality violations, mostly related to the project's failure to install proper erosion-control measures.
"Sometimes it's best to put principles aside and think about how much it would cost to defend a lawsuit," Coos County Commissioner Nikki Whitty said this morning.
"With legal fees, it would have cost us easily twice as much," she added. "I figure $55,000 is not even a month's legal fees if we were to fight a lawsuit of the magnitude of the Sierra Club's. I think their goal is to make a point and if they're satisfied with the Corps' settlement, they'll step back."
The corps' settlement came a week after the state Department of Environmental Quality announced a $51,000 fine against the county and a $204,000 fine against MasTec for state water quality violations. The MasTec penalty was among the top 10 fines the Oregon DEQ has ever issued. The county is appealing the DEQ fine.
"Given the magnitude of the allegations, they were terrific settlements for the county," Waldron said.
When completed, the pipeline will bring natural gas to the largest metropolitan area in the West still without it. The lack of natural gas has been cited by companies that chose to locate outside Coos County.
The county terminated its agreement with MasTec in April and subsequently hired Rockford Corp. of North Plains to complete the work. The Board anticipates the pipeline to be completed by the end of the year.
- Staff Writer Amy Moss Strong contributed to this story.
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