Sierra Club To File Federal Suit Over Road Through Wildlife Tract

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — The Sierra Club and Pasco County environmental activist Dan Rametta have filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the Ridge Road Extension project through the Serenova Preserve.

The Sept. 10 notice claims the U.S. agencies are violating the Endangered Species Act. Those planning to sue government agencies must send out a notice at least 60 days before filing suit.

The notice outlined several concerns with the "biological opinion" included with the Ridge Road Extension request for approval including failure to properly assess the project's impact on the endangered Eastern indigo snake weren't properly assessed, according to the Sierra Club.

The Sierra Club also accused the Army Corps of Engineers of omitting a legally required comprehensive analysis on the impact of the road extension project on the Florida scrub jay and the red-cockaded woodpecker.

On Dec. 20, 20 years after the Pasco County Commission submitted its application for the road extension, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit to allow the county to construct a four-lane, divided road connecting Ridge Road to the Suncoast Parkway and eventually to U.S. 41.

The county originally requested the federal permit to construct the extension through the Serenova Preserve in 1998, making the Ridge Road extension the longest pending permit application in the history of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Pasco County Commissioners say the $90 million 8.7-mile extension through the Serenova Preserve will provide a critically needed east-west thoroughfare in Pasco County between State Road 54 and the heavily traveled State Road 54

A number of Florida environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Florida Audubon Society, however, say the project would destroy the largest remaining wildlife preserve in Pasco County.

The road extension runs through the 6,533-acre Serenova nature preserve located in the Starkey Wilderness Preserve north of J.B. Starkey Wilderness Park in New Port Richey.

The land was once a cattle ranch and timber operation between the Anclote River and the Pithlachascotee River, established in 1937 by Jay B. Starkey.

The Serenova tract was purchased by the Florida Department of Transportation in the late 1990s to mitigate the loss of about 200 acres of wetlands when the Suncoast Expressway was built. The DOT transferred ownership of the Serenova tract to the Southwest Florida Water Management District but retained the right to extend Ridge Road through the property.

The property includes pine flatwoods, cypress domes, freshwater marshes, stream and lake swamps, sandhill and scrub, according to the SWFWMD.

The 2,300 acres of wetlands in Serenova combine with the wetlands in the Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park to form a 6,000-acre wetland ecosystem that serves "as a vital life cycle link for many wetland-dependent species," according to SWFWMD.

The preserve also acts as a natural buffer for the Cotee River, protecting the water quality by acting as a natural filter for surface water flowing over land into the Cotee and its main tributary, the Anclote River. That surface water ultimately provides a source of clean, fresh water for the coastal estuaries, which is vital to the survival of numerous species of birds, aquatic plants, such as seagrass, and popular fish including redfish, sea trout and mullet.

Additionally, the preserve is a recharge area for an essential regional well field operated by Tampa Bay Water that provides drinking water to Tampa Bay.

After learning of the Army Corps of Engineers' unexpected approval of the extension in December after years of no action, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit on Feb. 6 in U.S. District Court in Tampa along with an emergency injunction to stop construction of the extension.

On Feb. 20, federal Judge Charlene Honeywell denied the Sierra Club's motion for an emergency injunction. Shortly after, bulldozers began clearing a path through the nature preserve.

Tim Martin, conservation chairman for the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club, believes the judge's decision to deny the emergency injunction was based on the sheer volume of evidence she was given to review in a limited timeframe.

“We have 20 years’ worth of evidence submitted to the judge in this case. We were not surprised that she was unable to sort through it all in the first weeks of the case and grant our motion for an injunction,” Martin said.

After failing to get the emergency injunction, the Sierra Club appealed directly to the county. Sierra Club attorneys sent Pasco County a letter on March 24 asking the county to halt construction until the lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club could be decided.

Sierra Club attorney Heidi Mehaffey of Robert N. Hartsell PA warned Pasco County that moving forward “without allowing this case to filter through the court system would be extremely short sighted and could have disastrous and financial consequences for Pasco County when plaintiffs prevail on the merits.”

Frederick J. Aschauer, an environmental law attorney hired by Pasco County commissioners to represent the county in the case, promptly responded, “We acknowledge your position but intend to proceed with construction as allowed by our permits.”

Martin said this response should concern Pasco County taxpayers.

The county is recklessly gambling with taxpayer money by moving forward with construction," e said. "They’ve already wasted over $13 million on this project, and if they lose this case, will end up wasting millions more to fix the mess they’ve created.”

“In these times of economic crisis, the last thing any government agency needs to do is waste money that could be spent saving lives,” said Rametta, founder of the Save Our Serenova Coalition, a grassroots group of 70 concerned Pasco residents. “Counties are running out of money to fight the pandemic. How can Pasco County risk wasting $134 million to build this boondoggle, and then have to waste even more when they have to deconstruct damage to the Serenova Preserve at a time when people’s lives are at stake?”

Following the Sierra Club's notice to sue to federal government, Rametta said he hopes a judge will issue a stop-work order immediately.

“A lot of damage has already been done," Rametta said. "Gopher tortoise burrows and Eastern indigo snake habitats have been destroyed."

“Congress passed the Endangered Species Act nearly 50 years ago. We are currently facing a massive global extinction of species. Upholding this bedrock environmental law is more important than ever,” said Martin.

As part of its permit, the county is required to relocate the gopher tortoises that have made their home in an estimated 350 gopher tortoise burrows along the extension route.

"The problem is the burrows are shared by other wildlife species including the endangered Eastern indigo snake. When they fill in the burrows, these other species also lose their habitat. It's just tragic. The Eastern indigo snake is one of the largest indigenous snakes in Florida -- a beautiful creature."

Additionally, said Martin, studies have shown that have a 50 percent mortality rate when they're relocated.

"They have a hard time adjusting to a new environment," he said.

According to a 2015 document prepared for the Army Corps of Engineers by the Pasco County Engineering Services Department, the preserve is also home to the endangered Florida panther, the Florida sandhill crane, bald eagle, wood stork, striped newt, the Florida pine snake, the Florida mouse, the Suwanee cooter, the gopher frog, Sherman's fox squirrel, Florida black bear and the threatened short-tailed snake.

The West Pasco Audubon Society said 177 species of birds make their home in the preserve including the threatened Florida scrub jay and Southeastern American kestrel, the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker and the burrowing owl, a species of concern.

"It's just not smart growth to develop there," Martin said. "We need to be concentrating on developing urban areas that already have the infrastructure, not expanding into the last of our wilderness."

Martin noted that the Florida Department of Transportation and Pasco County's determination to go forward with the extension after two decades coincides with the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute's purchase of 775 acres adjacent to the southern boundary of the Ridge Road Extension in January. Moffitt plans to build a new clinical care and research center on the property.

Brendan Fitterer, public information officer for Pasco County, said the county does not comment on pending litigation.

See related stories:

• After 20 Years, Ridge Road Extension Gets Go-Ahead
• Injunction To Stop Construction In Serenova Preserve Denied