Environmentalists File Lawsuit Against Federal Agencies Over Proposed Plum Island Sale

The battle to save Plum Island heated up this wek as environmentalists got even more serious, taking their concerns to court and commencing a lawsuit against federal agencies.

Connecticut Fund for the Environment and its bi-state program Save the Sound, as well as six other organizations and individuals including Group for the East End and the Peconic Baykeeper, filed suit Thursday night against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration in Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The organizations allege that the proposed sale of Plum Island violates federal law and fails to protect endangered and threatened species.

The plaintiffs are being represented pro bono basis by attorneys from the San Francisco and New York offices of the law firm Morrison & Foerster.

“Our claim is that Homeland Security and GSA’s plan to auction Plum Island to the highest bidder without regard to conservation and the remarkable array of wildlife on the island violates the letter and spirit of multiple federal laws — including the National Environmental Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act,” said Roger Reynolds, legal director for CFE/Save the Sound. “The government holds the wildlife and natural resources in public trust for the people, not the private gain of individual developers."

The suit asks that the court halt any sale of Plum Island and order the federal agencies to consider conservation on Plum Island, either through conservation sale or protection.

Lawmakers on both sides of the Sound in Connecticut and on Long Island have long advocated for the preservation and protection of Plum Island, which features rich natural resources and a diverse array of habitats for wildlife.

Most recently, Rep. Lee Zeldin announced a victory Thursday in his quest to put the brakes on the sale.

Plum Island, an 840-acre island located at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, has long been home to a federal animal disease research facility.

Following DHS’s 2009 decision to relocate the research facility to Kansas, GSA began preparations to sell the island. CFE/Save the Sound and numerous other organizations and agencies have repeatedly expressed concerns to DHS and GSA that the environmental impact statement is "insufficient" and that DHS and GSA have not properly consulted with federal and state agencies charged with protecting environmental resources, a release said.

“The relative isolation of Plum Island has created a truly unique nature preserve that supports several threatened species including rare plants, endangered birds, sea turtles, seals, whales and dolphins,” Morrison & Foerster managing attorney Josh Roy said. “Plum Island is one of the last pristine natural environments in the northeast, and its sale represents a unique opportunity for preservation that will be lost forever. The lawsuit seeks to protect Plum Island and its environs by stopping its sale, and compelling DHS and GSA to comply with federal and state environmental laws in completing a thorough and accurate Environmental Impact Statement.”

Southold Town took proactive action by creating zoning for Plum Island in 2013 that would nix development opportunities for large scale proposals including golf courses pitched by some.

CFE/Save the Sound and Soundkeeper gave DHS and GSA notice, in January, 2015, of their intent to sue if the federal agencies did not remedy their ongoing violations of the Endangered Species Act.

The complaint claims that the environmental impact statement process was fundamentally flawed in at least six ways, including exclusion of a conservation sale from an alternatives analysis; violation of the National Environmental Police Act by failure to consider protection of endangered and threatened species and adverse economic impacts; a failure to consider alternatives to a public sale to highest bidder; as well as other issues including cleanup contamination associated with the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.

"It has become clear that the General Services Administration has not only misinterpreted the law regarding the sale of Plum Island — as they keep pushing for a full sale of the Island when there is no requirement that they do so—they have also willfully ignored federal law requirements relating to endangered and threatened species, by failing to assess potential adverse impacts the sale of the Island might have on them," John Turner, an individual named plaintiff to the action, said.

"Selling Plum Island to cover the federal government's bills has been wrongheaded and reckless from the start," said Bob DeLuca, president of Group for the East End. "This litigation confronts those vested with the responsibility for objectively examining the true natural and cultural impacts of abandoning this unique natural asset who to this point, have served to this as little more than a rubber stamp for the initial bad decision. We are proud to join our colleagues at CFE/Save the Sound and so many of our neighbors and friends from across Long Island and the Connecticut coastline to defend Plum Island's vast natural and cultural resources, before they are handed over to the highest bidder."