Environmentalists suing Atlanta’s public safety training center planners over alleged pollution are asking a judge to halt all construction and order the site to be completely replanted while the case is pending.
The Aug. 23 request was part of a flurry of activity this week in three separate lawsuits attempting to halt the project, dubbed “Cop City” by opponents, as it speeds toward a full construction start as soon as this month. In developments in other cases, the City is attempting to squash the “Vote to Stop Cop City” effort to put the training center lease on the ballot and arguing a blown filing deadline should help kill an appeal of the facility’s land disturbance permit.
Behind all of the arguments is the strategy of a race against time. The Atlanta Police Foundation (APF), the private nonprofit leading the planning with City backing and money, aims to build the facility as soon as possible in hopes of making opposition moot. Opponents are racing to halt it before then, citing irreparable environmental damage and a variety of issues from police reform to mysteries about the budget and green space.
The request for an injunction to halt construction came as part of a federal lawsuit filed earlier this month by the South River Watershed Alliance (SRWA) against the City and APF, alleging sediment runoff from the DeKalb County site violates the federal Clean Water Act and a state permit. The suit seeks a permanent halt to further sediment runoff, which in practice could mean halting the project completely.
Court records show the defendants recently gained an extension to file a response to the original complaint until Sept. 21, which would be weeks after the start of full construction in a published timeline. APF has filed permit applications to begin work on several buildings and a bridge.
The SRWA is citing the pressure of that construction timeline in its new request for a preliminary injunction. The group is asking the judge to “prohibit land disturbing and construction activities causing sediment discharges” – which, as described in the lawsuit complaint, means virtually the entire project – and to “stabilize” the site with new plantings. “The vegetation should uniformly cover 100 percent of the soil surface in vegetation consisting of planted trees, shrubs, and perennial vines with a density of at least 70 percent,” says the request.
Among the documents submitted in support of the request are photos of the site and its alleged discharge either taken or verified by Amy Taylor, a local resident involved with the SRWA. Taylor is also a member of the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee, a City-created review committee advising APF on the project, which has been controversial for transparency and politicization issues.
Taylor also filed an initial appeal against the training center’s land disturbance permit, which was rejected by a County board. A court appeal of that decision, taken up by DeKalb District 6 Commissioner Ted Terry, is still pending, with debate about that filing deadline issue.
Another legal battle is over the “Vote to Stop Cop City” referendum. Four DeKalb residents sued the City and state last month in federal court, alleging that a provision prohibiting them from gathering signatures for the referendum violated their First Amendment rights. They won a key preliminary injunction, saying that the argument is likely to succeed and, more importantly, extending the deadline for signature-gathering by 60 days – a huge factor in that race against time.
Referendum organizers intended to submit what they say is more than 100,000 signatures on Aug. 21, in time to possibly get the question on the November ballot. But they balked and complained about a signature-verification procedure announced by the Atlanta Municipal Clerk’s office that they – and many voting rights groups – claim is a voter suppression tactic. Signature-gathering continues while that issue remains in limbo.
Meanwhile, the City earlier this month filed an appeal challenging that preliminary injunction, and filed its initial argument on Aug. 21 – the day the referendum signatures were expected to be submitted. “The signature verification process will soon be underway, and the City needs a ruling on the injunction as soon as possible,” wrote the City’s team of private attorneys.
They argue that the lower court erred in issuing the injunction on many legal points and that the referendum itself is unlawful. Among their complaints are that federal courts should not enjoin state election laws close to an election, that the process did not actually ban the DeKalb residents from signature gathering, that there was no harm to them because the entire effort is unlawful and that even if the injunction was valid, its remedy is incorrect because it puts the process out of compliance with the law.
The other side has yet to file a response.
The SWRA has also filed another legal case in state administrative court that does not directly involve the training center plan but challenges the state environmental permitting system that it and many other projects have proceeded under on the same theme of sediment runoff into burdened waterways. They argue that the “general permit” system does not comply with federal regulations and should change its language and standards. It’s unclear what direct impact, if any, a plaintiff-favoring decision in that case – which is many months away under a schedule approved by an administrative judge on Aug. 22 – could mean for the training center.
‘Cop City’ court cases
The following are major court cases filed by training center opponents that are still pending and their status as of Aug. 24.
South River Watershed Alliance, Inc., v. City of Atlanta
U.S. District Court
Alleges violations of U.S. Clean Water Act and seeks halt to construction causing sediment runoff. Defendants have until Sept. 21 to respond to the original complaint. The plaintiffs have asked for a preliminary injunction halting construction. There is not yet a deadline for responses to that request, but the judge has started an expedited review with an Aug. 29 deadline for both sides to submit a proposed schedule.
Edward “Ted” Terry v. DeKalb County, Georgia
DeKalb County Superior Court
An appeal challenging the rejection of a previous appeal by the DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals that claimed the County wrongly issued a land disturbance permit because it allows sediment runoff that causes pollution. Defendants have moved to dismiss the case on alleged lack of standing and failure to state a claim. The case is now in a debate over a time extension after the plaintiff’s attorney filed a response to the motion to dismiss two days late, which he said was due to a typo. The City and APF, which are also defendants, filed a response on Aug. 21 opposing the attempt to extend the time.
Baker v. City of Atlanta
U.S. District Court
Alleges a City ban on non-residents gathering petition signatures for the “Vote to Stop Cop City” referendum violates the First Amendment and requests more time for signature-gathering. It is still pending with a discovery or evidence-gathering period extending into late December. But a judge essentially gave the plaintiffs what they asked for in a preliminary injunction last month. The City has separately appealed that preliminary injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, and filed its initial brief, or argument, on Aug. 21.
Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that there is not yet a scheduled deadline for responses to the request for a preliminary injunction halting construction in South River Watershed Alliance, Inc., v. City of Atlanta.
This attempt to stop and the inevitable restart would actually do GREATER damage, these bourgeoisie Marxists are not very aligned in their thinking.