City of Marathon case and making groundbreaking law in Florida
Transcript
Josh Migdal 00:00:00:04 – 00:01:08:21
One of the things that’s special to me at Mark Migdal and Hayden, is that we’ve taken upon ourselves to try and make an impact through litigation. And one of the endeavors is Jordan and I are working with a non-for-profit called Folks in an Action against the City of Marathon that will make groundbreaking law in Florida. The case discusses whether or not you can violate the Clean Water Act in Florida through the disposition of waste through an improper sewage system by the City of Marathon.
The Supreme Court recently in the Maui case, said that you no longer need a pipe going straight into a body of water, but instead you can have what’s called a functional equivalent. So, Jordan, why don’t you tell them about, you know, how we’re proving that the way the City of Marathon treats the water with shallow wells is in essence a functional equivalent of direct discharge into the water.
Jordan Nadel 00:01:09:08 – 00:01:52:11
Sure. So the City of Marathon, unlike virtually every other city in the Florida Keys, uses an antiquated, shallow well system to to treat and dispose of its wastewater. And we’re essentially making the argument that that system, which is letting all these pollutants enter the surface waters of the Florida Keys, is is really no different, at least legally speaking, than if the city had a pump that was discharging this pollution into the waters. And and like Josh was saying, there’s precedent now that supports that argument and as it should, it’s really protecting the residents who live in the Keys and the wildlife that lives in those waters. And it’s really an interesting case, and it’s it’s really groundbreaking stuff.
Josh Migdal 00:01:52:19 – 00:02:56:09
I think Jordan has done a very good job in the case in crafting the appropriate discovery request to get the heart of the issue. What we found in going through the documents is that the decision to use a shallow well system rather than a deep well system was completely driven by money. It was clear it’s become clear to us that they decided to use the system they’re having because it would cost far less and they thought that it would be better for their overall budget. And that decision is at odds with what everyone else in Florida is doing. And the reason it’s at odds with what everyone else is doing in Florida is the subsurface of of the ground in Florida is very porous. So when you have a shallow well system, in essence, what’s going on is you’ve got like a million little tunnels and highways, which is creating a system in which the sewage goes straight to our ocean, which is something we certainly don’t want.
Jordan Nadel 00:02:56:15 – 00:03:08:22
Yes, it’s highly technical and scientific, the subject matter of the case, and it’s really it’s been really interesting working on it and something we feel good about.
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