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Big Sugar wins bid to oust Everglades judge
By JILL BARTON
The Associated Press
WEST PALM BEACH-- The
federal judge who has presided over the Everglades restoration for more
than a decade was removed from the case on Tuesday following complaints
from sugar growers that he favored environmental groups.
U.S. District Judge
William M. Hoeveler had repeatedly made comments about the Everglades
issue to reporters. He criticized lawmakers and the governor for
approving legislation this year that environmental groups contended
would jeopardize federal funds and delay the cleanup.
Hoeveler's removal by
Chief U.S. District Judge William Zloch was a big victory for U.S. Sugar
Corp. The company, which led the fight against him, contended Hoeveler
had become too politically involved in the issue by lambasting state
lawmakers and lecturing the governor.
In siding with the
company, Zloch noted that Hoeveler's comments in five newspaper articles
cast doubt on his "continued impartiality." The order said that judges
should disqualify themselves if their impartiality "might be reasonably
questioned."
Hoeveler, 81, said he
didn't want to comment on the decision.
In a statement, U.S.
Sugar senior vice president Robert Coker praised Hoeveler as "a great
judge with a long and distinguished career." But he said the order
showed that Hoeveler had become unfairly influenced against the
company's interests.
Environmental groups
denounced Hoeveler's removal. They praised his 15 years of policing the
complex lawsuit that is intended to restore the Everglades to its bygone
days as a free-flowing, slow-growth marsh.
"I think Judge
Hoeveler will go down in history as an American hero. He wanted the
Everglades to be there for our grandchildren," said Jonathan Ullman,
Everglades representative for the Sierra Club. "The sugar industry
should put its energy into following the law instead of judge shopping."
In May, Hoeveler said
a new Everglades law heralded by Gov. Jeb Bush was "clearly defective"
and that Bush was misled by people who did not care about the
Everglades.
Environmentalists say
the new law puts off the cleanup of phosphorus pollution running into
the Everglades from sugar farms and suburban sprawl by more than a
decade. Phosphorus is a problem in the Everglades because it feeds the
growth of cattails, choking out native plants and wildlife.
Hoeveler, who oversaw
the original 1992 agreement between Florida and the federal government
to clean up the Everglades, threatened to ignore the state law if it
contradicts the plan.
In a May order, he
wrote that the "bill was moved quickly through the legislative process,
reportedly at the behest of more than forty lobbyists for the sugar
industry."
David Guest, a
managing attorney with Earth Justice, said sugar growers have disagreed
with the district court's rulings for years and are trying to "escape
the consequences of their pollution by getting rid of the judge."
"In the end justice
will prevail and the Everglades will be protected," Guest said.
Hoeveler, also well
known for sending Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to prison, was
appointed to the federal bench in 1977 and serves as a senior judge in
Miami.
Awards in his name are
issued by Florida criminal defense lawyers for lifetime achievement and
by the University of Miami law school for ethics and leadership. He also
received from a medal from Pope John Paul II.
The case was
reassigned Tuesday to U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno and U.S.
Magistrate Judge Robert L. Dube.
Environmentalists said
reassignment only creates another delay in the restoration.
"There will be a time
lag certainly when the new judge catches up on this very complicated
case," Guest said. "And that's unfortunate because the Everglades
doesn't need a time lag."
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