Kanner & Whiteley filed suit on behalf of the nonprofit Friends of Lydia Ann Channel (FLAC) against the Army Corps of Engineers and Lydia Ann Channel Moorings, LLC in the Southern District of Texas on May 29, 2019. The suit alleges violations of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act on the part of the Corps and public nuisance on the part of the company.
Lydia Ann Channel Moorings has maintained an unpermitted barge fleeting facility in the middle of the ecologically important and protected Lydia Ann Channel in Port Aransas, Texas for over two years following the revocation of its original permit that itself was issued following a flawed permitting process. It is now in default of its Texas General Land Office Lease and has failed to maintain its premises, which has in turn created navigation hazards and environmental damage, harming the interests and rights of the members of FLAC.
The Corps, following the revocation of Lydia Ann Channel Mooring’s permit in September 2016, subsequently ordered the company to remove the facility. The company submitted removal plans that focused largely on retaining the facility and the Corps has proceeded to consider such plans and has announced plans to issue a permit in direct contravention of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
A copy of the complaint can be viewed here.