Plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed yesterday against the two federal agencies that recommended Plum Island’s sale gathered at the tip of Orient Point this afternoon to air their grievances.
“It’s not as if we didn’t try to be reasonable,” said Louise Harrison, a conservation biologist and Plum Island Coalition member. “We tried to be reasonable, we followed the administrative process and we were met with dismissive, cavalier behavior.”
The lawsuit charges the General Services Administration (GSA) and Department Of Homeland Security (DHS) with violating the National Environmental Policy Act and other federal statutes when they recommended the unconditional sale of Plum Island.
“There were several core issues with the environmental impact study the GSA conducted,” said Christ Cryder of Preserve Plum Island Coalition and Save the Sound, the lead plaintiff in the suit. “The biggest one was the false conclusion that they can only sell the entire island.”
Cryder said that the Department of Homeland Security and General Services Administration seem to believe that the entire island had to be sold by public auction, which is the DHS’s interpretation of a 2008 law directing the department to sell the 840-acre island.
That is simply not true, Cryder told the crowd. Plum Island Animal Disease Center, the federal research facility housed on the island, is the only thing the 2008 law mandated to be sold, he said. “It was a false conclusion, and as a result they did not consider conservation alternatives. They are required to, but they did not.”
In 2008, the DHS was directed to close Plum Island’s facility in favor of another research facility being built in Manhattan, Kansas. The GSA, which Cryder described as “the nation’s realtor,” began efforts to sell it. An environmental impact study was completed, but Cryder described it as “inadequate.”
Joshua Roy, the plaintiffs’ attorney from Morrison & Foerster, described the causes of action of the lawsuit before the small crowd.
His reasons included failure to consider conservation of the land, failure to consider sale outside of public auction (which precluded transfer of the land to relevant government agencies that could preserve it, he said) and failure to use the analysis of cooperating government agencies, all of which he said violated federal laws by “prejudging the final decision.”
“The ongoing plan to auction Plum Island to the highest bidder without consideration to conservation and without regard of the amazing, abundant wildlife on the island is in violation of several federal laws,” Cryder claimed. “It is a national, wonderful, historical, natural gem that must be preserved.”
The island is a habitat for endangered species , he said, which means the agencies were required to consult the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“That step was, unfortunately, bypassed,” he said.
Cryder said the groups had exhausted every avenue in trying to get the DHS and GSA to comply with federal regulations they say have been violated. As a result, the DHS was recently compelled by Congress to do a second analysis on Plum Island. The report was released late last month, with results that disappointed local activists.
“They had an opportunity to correct themselves,” Cryder said. “Congress wanted a full evaluation… but yet again, DHS punted and did not provide recommendations as requested and only did superficial review of a short list of alternatives.”
“It’s become extremely clear they have no interest in conducting a real analysis, or making a plan to protect Plum Island,” Cryder said. “That’s why we had no choice but to move forward and sue. We could no longer watch them auction off [Plum Island.]”
The suit requests that the court orders the halt of the sale of Plum Island and requires a full analysis of the considerations the plaintiffs have brought to light.
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) has twice had legislative amendments passed in the House that would put the sale of the island on hold until a further assessment is done by the U.S. Comptroller. After the second such amendment passed this week, he issued a statement calling on the Senate to pass his proposals “so that we can pursue a better direction for Plum Island that would allow for continued research, public access and permanent preservation of the island.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand are co-sponsors of a bill introduced this session by Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut that would repeal the 2008 legislation altogether. Zeldin said in April such a repeal is unlikely to pass, which is why he opted for an intermediate approach, stopping efforts to sell the island while an independent assessment is done.
Schumer says his bill would give allow the GSA to transfer the island to a federal agency like the National Park Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which will preserve Plum Island and protect the property from being destroyed.
“Plum Island is a much-needed environmental and wildlife habitat on Long Island and we must do everything possible to ensure it is not developed,” Schumer said today.
The Senate bill has been stalled in committee for more than a year.
