A federal judge has shot down an attempt to halt construction of Atlanta’s public safety training center after an environmental group sued over alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.
The South River Watershed Alliance filed a lawsuit in August against the city of Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Foundation, claiming that “stormwater discharges from the Atlanta Training Facility construction site were not in compliance with the general permit.”
The lawsuit says members of the group worry about sediment from the training center site impacting Intrenchment Creek and wildlife.
The suit claims the construction site was cleared before required sediment storage bins were completed, resulting in stormwater from the site discharging into the creek. It asked that construction halt while the court determines if the city and police foundation violated the Clean Water Act.
But U.S. District Court Judge J.P. Boulee in the Northern District Court of Georgia denied the request, saying that there’s not enough evidence that the city has violated federal environmental standards to justify the pause.
“The Court cannot find — at this stage of the proceedings — that Plaintiff has presented enough evidence to prove there is a substantial likelihood that Defendants’ construction of the Facility is discharging enough sediment to interfere with Intrenchment Creek’s designated use,” Boulee wrote in his decision.
This is just one of a handful of environmental challenges launched against the city in an effort to shut down the controversial project. The city’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer LaChandra Burkes told City Council members on Wednesday that it was the fourth attempt by the South River Watershed Alliance to stop construction through litigation.
“Every time a lawsuit is filed, we have to act on it, we have to defend it,” she said, adding that litigation has cost the city about $1 million.
Records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show a rising price tag accumulated in court cases against the training facility. The AJC reported last month that contracts and invoices to legal representation and consultants involved in the petition verification totaled more than $1.3 million.
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