JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

August 2008

To read this entire item of approximately 2000 words online now in PDF format: Click here to read this item if you are an existing subscriber to this publication. Click here to purchase the full text of this item to read now (price: $25). To subscribe to this publication and immediately access all its archives including this item, select the relevant publication under 'Catalogue' in the left-hand column PLEASE NOTE: to read PDFs on www.argento.com you must be using Version 5 of Acrobat Reader or Adobe Reader. If you have an earlier version you can download the latest free of charge by clicking here

District Court Allows Army Corps to Withdraw Prior Opinion of Isolated Wetlands in Favor of U.S. Asserting Clean Water Act Jurisdication
Acquest Wehrle v. U.S., ___F.Supp.2d___

Plaintiff Acquest Wehrle in Amherst, New York, wanted to develop an office park but needed approvals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and from the Town of Amherst. After Acquest Wehrle had obtained these approvals, including a letter determination from the Corps that wetlands identified on the property were isolated, non-navigable water, intrastate waters, Acquest Wehlre obtained the necessary rezoning approval and was prepared to proceed. At the last minute, however, certain neighbouring individuals opposed the office park project and saw a re-classification of the proposed project has been within a protected wetlands area. The Corps subsequently cleanly withdrew its declaration that the wetlands located in the Acquest Wehrle property were not subject to its jurisdiction. Further, approval for the project was not forthcoming. Acquest Wehrle sought to enforce the right to proceed, which it had once been told it had, but failed to persuade the U.S. District Court that those prior approvals were binding upon the Corps and the Town of Amherst.