A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction barring Mosaic Co. (MOS) from expanding a key phosphate mine in Florida due to environmental concerns.
The ruling Friday evening by a federal district court judge in Jacksonville, Fla., found that the Sierra Club and local environmental groups had demonstrated a "substantial likelihood of success" in their case against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The groups are arguing that the Corps issued a permit for the 10,856-acre expansion into wetlands in violation of the Clear Water Act.
The lawsuit was filed in late June, and a temporary restraining order was issued July 1. Mosaic has warned that if the judge extended the restraining order until the case went to trial, that it could have to lay off the mine's 221 employees and close the mine. The mine represents a third of the fertilizer company's phosphate mining capacity and provides the raw material for three Mosaic factories in Florida
Mosaic Executive Vice President and General Counsel Rich Mack said late Friday the company would quickly file an appeal in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
"We're still analyzing the decision and are disappointed in the ruling," Mack said. "The permits for the [extension] underwent seven years of regulatory, judicial and public scrutiny and contain the most stringent environmental protections of any phosphate mine permit in the history of Florida."
In a quarterly earnings conference call July 23, President and Chief Executive Jim Prokopanko said the company was "doing a lot of contingency planning" based on potential outcomes. The temporary injunction expired Friday.
Sierra Club legal director Pat Gallagher said he was encouraged by the ruling and said the judge supported most, although not all of the group's claims. He added that while the injunction would be a "hassle" for the company, it does have the ability to mine about 1,000 acres without a permit.
"I don't know why they wouldn't mine what's available instead of laying people off," he said.
In the ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr., said he would expedite the case in "a reduced time frame." Gallagher said the Sierra Club and other plaintiffs would meet with Mosaic attorneys in the next two weeks to work out a schedule on the case.
The judge said in the ruling that Mosaic had "failed to address alternatives" to the expansion plans, and that the plaintiffs had demonstrated the "likelihood of success" in its claims that proceeding without an injunction would cause "irreparable harm" to the environment.
(David Benoit contributed to this article.)
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