30-October-03

Expert to monitor cleanup
BY CATHERINE WILSON
© Miami Herald
A federal judge in Miami agreed with environmental groups and an Indian tribe Wednesday to appoint an expert to monitor Everglades pollution cleanup, in a defeat for the Bush administrations in Washington and in Tallahassee. Government agencies and politically powerful sugar growers vigorously objected to the appointment of a special master to consider whether an 11-year-old Everglades restoration pact is being violated or will be soon. ''To delay action would be irresponsible,'' U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno said in an order issued after business hours. The special master ``will offer additional assurance that the Everglades cleanup will proceed in a timely and efficient fashion.'' Read more

>> Read Judge Moreno's order granting appointment of special master [1mb pdf file]

 

07-October-03

Big Sugar vs. Environmentalists: Fresh new referee, same old fight
A humorous new judge takes first tentative steps toward resolving endless cleanup debate.
By Curtis Morgan
© Miami Herald
About midway through his first slog into the thick legal muck surrounding Everglades cleanup, U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno held up a white mug and asked, ``Is there a conflict if I do take sugar in my coffee?'' The courtroom cracked up. It was, after all, a charge of conflict from the sugar industry against fellow Judge William Hoeveler that landed one of Florida's most complex and contentious environmental cases in Moreno's courtroom. Moreno made no rulings during an initial ''status hearing'' Monday but he quickly put his imprint on the landmark 1992 federal settlement that forced Florida to reduce pollution flowing from farms and suburbs into the River of Grass by 2006. The judge cracked jokes, quoted Shakespeare and Emerson and made it abundantly clear he didn't have Hoeveler's patience for long-winded lawyers. He also pledged to put on the fast track a case that has dragged on for 15 years and numerous disputes -- the latest over Florida's controversial rewrite of cleanup standards.  Read more

Judge to consider special master for Everglades cleanup lawsuit
By Neil Santaniello
© Sun-Sentinel
Launching right into a potentially daunting new task, U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno said Monday he would quickly consider whether to appoint a special master to help him monitor the state's efforts to follow a court-ordered Everglades cleanup. The three-hour hearing in Miami was Moreno's first courtroom introduction to the 15-year-old lawsuit over Everglades pollution he inherited last month, replacing another federal judge ordered off the
case. Moreno made it clear he intends to promptly deal with disputes and issues arising out of a 9-year-old state plan, the 1994 Everglades Forever Act, to protect water quality in the Everglades.  Read more

New judge considers Everglades overseer
By Robert P. King
© Palm Beach Post
MIAMI -- At least one thing become clear in federal court Monday: This was not your father's Everglades judge. U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno peppered his courtroom with wit,
interruptions and a plain impatience with endless argument as he took command of a landmark 15-year-old pollution lawsuit, handed to him last month by the removal of the grandfatherly Judge William Hoeveler. He also promised a ruling within 18 days on the question that helped propel Hoeveler from the case: whether to appoint a federal overseer to
monitor the state's progress in the $1 billion-plus cleanup of sugar farm and suburban runoff. Moreno made note of the many potential land mines in the case, which landed in his lap after sugar industry lawyers successfully argued that Hoeveler had shown bias against them. Holding aloft a white coffee cup, Moreno asked: "Is there a conflict if I do take sugar in my coffee?"  Read more

 

05-October-03

Everglades cleanup suit passes to 'quick, fair' judge
Lawyers say Judge Federico Moreno's lack of experience in environmental law won't hamper justice in the Everglades cleanup lawsuit.
By Gail Epstein Nieves
© Miami Herald
Traditions die hard around U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno. Just watch him walk, black-robed and deliberate, into his 10th-floor courtroom every day. First he high-fives a Notre Dame University stadium banner tacked to the corridor wall. The banner -- he's a Notre Dame alum -- was a special gift from a group of Moreno's law clerks. Their photos, 13 years' worth, line another wall in federal court. Now Moreno, 51, has suddenly been handed the long-running Everglades cleanup lawsuit. Lawyers who know him say his chambers reflect the virtues he brings to the case: lengthy experience, respect for history and the law, an amiable temperament. ''Irrespective of the issues, the guy's going to handle the case swiftly and follow the law,'' said Manny Kadre, Moreno's law clerk in 1990-91. ``He's certainly not afraid to make a decision no matter who is involved in the case or what special interest groups are on any side.''  Read more