A Louisiana appeals court has reversed a lower court ruling that vacated an air permit for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
On Nov. 5, the Louisiana Court of Appeal First Circuit ruled to reverse an October 2017 judgment that vacated Southern Aggregates and the LDEQ's minor source air permit for Southern's gravel and sand mining operation. The court reversed and remanded the case back to state court.
According to the filing, Save Our Hills, the Louisiana Environmental Action Network and O'Neil Couvillion argued that possible alternate sites for the project were not truly explored.
Southern Aggregates wins on appeal in permit case
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Save Our Hills first sued Southern Aggregates in October 2014 after it filed an application for the air permit to construct a Denham Springs, Louisiana, plant. The purpose of the plant was to strip mine sand and gravel, the suit contends. The plant however, was to be located adjacent to Oak Hills subdivision.
A group of homeowners in the Oak Hills Subdivision incorporated a non-profit, Save Our Hills, comprised of more than 224 homeowners, according to the filing. Save Our Hills, along with LEAN, a non-profit that, "serves as a statewide network of environmental and citizen groups, works to preserve, protect, and improve the state's natural resources from pollution, also joined the fight against the proposed plant construction.
According to the lawsuit, Southern Aggregates requested an air permit to LDEQ that would authorize emissions of air pollutants associated with mining sand and gravel. That permit was granted in September 2016.
But Save Our Hills argued that LDEQ and Southern Aggregates failed to hold public hearings on the proposal prior to LDEQ approving the permits.
LDEQ claims that it conducted a public hearing in January 2016, "where several members of the public spoke regarding health, environmental, and economic concerns. LDEQ also received several exhibits pertaining to these same concerns."
Save Our Hills filed a petition for judicial review in November 2016 seeking to have the air permit vacated. The district court held a hearing in August 2017.
The court issued a written ruling, "finding that LDEQ failed as public trustee of the environment as required by law. Specifically, the district court found that LDEQ failed to weigh the cost to the neighboring landowners in Oak Hills subdivision as required by law when performing its environmental cost analysis," court papers say.