Press Coverage

HARRISMARTIN’S CATASTROPHIC LOSS & LIABILITY UPDATE, Hurricane – Repair Class Action (March 2006)

COURTROOM NEWS

For Documents, visit www.harrismartin.com

HARRISMARTIN’S CATASTROPHIC LOSS & LIABILITY UPDATE

– March 2006

Hurricane – Repair Class Action

Plaintiff Says Condo Board Mismanaged Hurricane Repairs, Squandered Insurance

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A resident of a hurricane-damaged condominium has filed a class action against the condo’s board of directors and reconstruction company, alleging gross mismanagement and seeking the temporary appointment of a receiver to determine the building’s fate. Kas v. Tiara Condominium Association Inc., et al., No. 502006CA02 (Fla. 15th Jud. Cir., Palm Beach Cty.).

Ali M. Kas, owner of three units at the 42-story Tiara Condominium in West Palm Beach, Fla., filed the 51-page complaint on Jan. 3 in Florida’s 15th Judicial Circuit Court for Palm Beach County. Kas seeks to represent owners of the Tiara’s 320 units who have been similarly displaced due to damages sustained during Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne.

Putative class members have been subjected to special assessments relating to reconstruction and renovation costs, and they oppose the Tiara’s board of directors’ reconstruction management and agreements with Southern Construction Services Inc., Kas states.

Causes of action against the volunteer board include breach of fiduciary duty, demand for financial audit, appointment of receiver, money damages, declaratory judgment and temporary injunction.

Kas contends that the present board “has inefficiently squandered the association’s revenue, has failed to account for same, has failed to adequately report how the association’s 2004 collected revenue and insurance proceeds have been allocated, has used revenue collected to further self-serving causes that unjustly enrich the board members, has shown unusual favoritism [by offering no-bid contracts to] Southern, has demonstrated an inability to complete the restoration project, has suggested that the association is or soon will be insolvent, and has suggested bankruptcy as an alternative.”

Since the September 2004 hurricanes, the Tiara has remained uninhabitable, Kas says, adding that many residents either directly lost or have still not gained access to personal property because of the board’s decision to allow Southern to move all units’ contents to a warehouse.

Kas states that reconstruction costs, prior to Hurricane Wilma’s causing further damage to the Tiara in October, were estimated at $120 million, which included $30 million already spent to dry out the building over nine months following Hurricane Jeanne. Kas says that the construction industry’s “dry out period” standard is 10-20 days, as water-damaged components that cannot be dried out within that period require replacement. He adds that much of what the board paid Southern to dry was ultimately removed and destroyed.

Kas says that Southern’s failure to establish a fixed completion date for reconstruction precluded several residents from obtaining financing and has forced them to sell their units at a loss.

Approximately 70 more units are expected to be subjected to foreclosure proceedings, while other residents have sustained liens against their units, Kas states.

Kas alleges that the board has exhausted its financial resources, including $50 million in insurance proceeds, yet remains indebted to Southern for at least $25 million. A temporary injunction is sought to prevent the board from enforcing a special assessment of $70 million approved by the board on Aug. 24, to continue the restoration of hurricane damages.

The board, in a lawsuit filed in August against Citizens Property Insurance Corp., blames the Tiara’s money woes on Florida’s insurer of last resort, claiming that Citizens owes the condominium $100 million in claims for Frances and Jeanne damages.

The condo association’s insurance policy with Citizens allegedly covered the building for nearly $50 million, subject to a $1.5 million deductible. The association contends that the two hurricanes should count as separate occurrences, and that the association understood it would pay two $1.5 million deductibles.

While Citizens had issued payments for the first $50 million occurrence by July 28, the insurer has reportedly refused to pay the additional $50 million claim, asserting that once the building sustained one total loss, it could not suffer another. Even if the condo association prevails in its currently pending lawsuit against Citizens, Tiara residents would still be saddled with $20 million in repairs, an amount Kas contends is unreasonably high due in large part to the board’s negligent hiring and dealings with Southern.

Kas alleges that the board has been overcharged by Southern and is being taken advantage of, as evidenced by excessive unused or underused rental equipment and wasteful remediation. Kas also contends that the Tiara building could be rebuilt from the ground up for just $70 million, as opposed to the estimated $120 million required for repairs.

William “Chip” Merlin Jr. of the Merlin Law Group in Tampa, Fla., represents Tiara Condominium Association Inc. in its lawsuit against Citizens.

Document is Available Call (800) 496-4319 or Search www.harrismartin.com

Kas Complaint Ref# CAT-0602-03

In November 2015, William R. Wohlsifer, PA, took on big fossil fuel and represented WWALS Watershed Coalition to prevent the issuance of an  Environmental Resource Permit and Easement on Sovereign Submerged Lands for a natural gas pipeline that would stretch half the length of Florida. This pipeline would be bigger than any pipeline previously permitted and would traverse geologically unstable lands, leading to sinkhole formation, erosion, and water contamination.

At the three-day hearing, Billy defended their client’s challenge to the pipeline against the Department of Environmental Protection and Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC.  Sabal Trail Transmission was represented by the firm Hopping Green & Sams, one of the largest environmental law firms in Florida. Billy questioned over 30 witnesses and were determined to establishing standing for their non-profit client, and to show that Sabal Trail did not provide the reasonable assurances necessary to show that a permit for this pipeline would be in the best interest of Floridian’s and the land, air and water that they rely on.

We are presently awaiting the Final Order from the Division to be issued on December 6, 2015. In the meantime, we are preparing in the event that this case goes to appeal to the First District Court of Appeal.

For more information about the case please visit the following links:

https://www.suwanneedemocrat.com/news/jasper-hearings-could-decide-fate-of-gas-pipeline/article_1b9d9776-78f2-11e5-b382-ef80c0e10aad.html

https://www.wwals.net/1b757bc74c0f6572845c4196e7ac6e9b-jpg/

https://www.wwals.net/2015/12/18/epa-stepped-back-while-opposition-ramps-up-against-sabal-trail-fracked-methane-pipeline/

https://www.wtxl.com/news/environmental-group-is-not-surprised-by-judge-s-decision/article_695ddd16-a2ac-11e5-bdfb-e374bb39019c.html

https://www.wwals.net/2015/11/17/wwals-files-proposed-recommended-order-with-doah-2015-11-16/

Billy on Clearvoter on Tally talks

Billy discussing Bitcoin, digital technology, and Clearvoter on Tallahassee Talks with Brien Sorne – 93.3FM Freedom Radio, Tallahassee, FL

 

Fast forward to 14:12, for anyone who wants to here Bill Wohlsifer’s Radio Interview that aired on June 30th. Guaranteed to keep you awake if you have any interest in debt collection, bankruptcy, or Bitcoin.

This PR was originally posted on 12/18/2015 and can be found here

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EPA stepped back, while opposition ramps up against Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline

Hahira and Albany, Georgia, December 18, 2015— (PDF) Mysteriously contradicting a substantive October letter from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 in Atlanta, a different EPA branch last Friday sent a brief and sketchy letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers uncritically accepting what Sabal Trail’s attorney’s told it, even as multiple environmental and landowner organizations filed objections with the Corps and multiple state agencies against that invading natural gas pipeline.

“I smell a skunk,” said Frank Jackalone, senior organizing manager, Sierra Club of Florida.

Tim Carroll, Valdosta City Council member, said, “I don’t understand how EPA and FERC can say there will not be a negative impact on our environment, aquifer, streams and rivers. A number of experts testified and spoke up saying the likelihood is very high that there could be damage to the aquifer and the environment. Why would we want to allow this to happen, to run the risk of seriously degrading one of the best water resources in the world.,” Valdosta, Moultrie, and Albany, the three biggest cities along the pipeline path in Georgia, all passed resolutions against Sabal Trail, as did the counties of Terrell, Dougherty, Colquitt, Brooks, and Lowndes, in Georgia, and Hamilton and Suwannee Counties in Florida.

“The one government agency actually defending our drinking in the Floridan Aquifer and the many rivers in Georgia and Florida just stifled itself,” said John S. Quarterman, President of WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS). WWALS advocates for the Withlacoochee River and Okapilco Creek in south Georgia and the upper Suwannee River in north Florida, all of which Sabal Trail proposed to drill under.

Jackalone added, “This sudden, 180-degree reversal raises the question of whether the pipeline’s powerful investors pulled political strings to get EPA to back away from the objections it raised a few months ago in a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.”

That same Friday, December 11^th, WWALS filed four pages of opposition with the Corps, and the Corps got a 38-page letter from Atlanta environmental law firm Greenlaw, representing the Sierra Club, the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, the Flint Riverkeeper, the Kiokee-Flint Group, Environment Florida, Our Santa Fe River Inc., Earth Ethics, Inc., Gulf Restoration Network, and the Florida Clean Water Network, incorporating by reference all previous comments or information submitted by any of those organizations or by WWALS.

Also that Friday, Judge Bram D.E. Canter ruled for Sabal Trail and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) in a case WWALS brought to stop FDEP from issuing a permit for Sabal Trail to drill under the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers and the Suwannee River State Park. Florida law says those rivers are supposed to receive higher protection as Outstanding Florida Waters, as are state lands, as WWALS pointed out in a three-day hearing.

“I’m not sure if they read the transcript or what happened,” said Leighanne Boone, WWALS co-counsel along with William R. Wohlsifer of Tallahassee, Florida. “But I definitely felt we showed expert testimony of irreversible impacts.” Boone and Wohlsifer are already working up exceptions to file to the judge’s Order, and the WWALS board is contemplating its options for appeal.

Meanwhile in Georgia, many of the same organizations are opposing Sabal Trail’s application for an air quality permit for a compressor station in Albany from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, and provisional easements for drilling under Georgia rivers that the Georgia Department of Natural Resources board voted in September.

EPA’s about-face also happened shortly before FERC today published its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) about Sabal Trail and its two companion pipelines.

“I hope Georgia will protect the aquifer and the rivers since the feds don’t seem to be able to get their act together,” said Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper, “We don’t call it the Sinkhole Trail Pipeline for nothing; it doesn’t belong in the Floridan Aquifer.”

“We see no reason to risk local citizens’ property, or taxes, or their drinking water, or any part of the ecology for the profit of a company from some other state,” said Quarterman, “Georgia is already the fastest-growing U.S. solar market, and solar power will bring far more jobs to Georgia and Florida than any pipeline ever would, with no need for eminent domain, no risk to our water, and far faster, cheaper, and safer.”

About WWALS

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS), a Waterkeeper® Alliance Affiliate and a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation established in 2012, advocates for conservation and stewardship of the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, and Upper Suwannee River watersheds in south Georgia and north Florida through awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities. All the documents referenced are linked into this WWALS web page:https://www.wwals.net/issues/stt/

Contact:

John S. Quarterman, President
WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.
229-242-0102
[email protected]
www.wwals.net
PO Box 88, Hahira, GA 31632

Gordon Rogers
Flint Riverkeeper
(229) 435-2241
[email protected]
www.flintriverkeeper.org
211 North Jefferson Street, Suite 8
Albany, GA. 31701

###

This article was originally posted this story on 11/25/2015 here.

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott’s top environmental agency helped block a scathing federal report outlining environmental concerns from being submitted as part of a challenge to a controversial natural gas pipeline that would run across some of Florida’s most “environmentally sensitive areas.”

The Sabal Trail pipeline, a joint venture of Spectra Energy, Duke Energy and Florida Power & Light Co.’s parent company, would extend 515 miles from central Alabama to Osceola County. The project, which covers more than 260 miles in Florida, faces a legal challenge to a state permit in Florida from an environmental group named the WWALS Watershed Coalition.

On Oct. 26, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wrote to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, saying it had “very significant concerns” about the process of choosing a route because of the threat of pollution to the Floridan Aquifer and the impact on conservation areas.

Four days later, the WWALS Watershed Coalition asked Administrative Law Judge Bram D.E. Canter to take judicial notice of the EPA objections.

But the Florida Department of Environmental Protection joined Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC in objecting, and Canter refused the request.

A spokeswoman for the DEP, which is overseen by Scott’s office, was twice asked whether the permit should be re-evaluated in light of the EPA comments. Each time, she answered with a statement that neither acknowledged nor addressed the EPA concerns.

John Quarterman, president of the WWALS Watershed Coalition, told POLITICO Florida that the permit never should not be issued because of concerns about the project. WWALS refers to the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, and Upper Suwannee River watersheds in south Georgia and north Florida.

“It would be nice if they [DEP officials] decided on their own to not issue the permit,” Quaterman said. “I can’t say I’d be exactly holding my breath for that to happen.”

In 2009, Florida Power & Light Co. petitioned the Florida Public Service Commission to build a 280-mile natural gas pipeline to serve its Cape Canaveral and Riviera Beach electric generating units. The PSC denied the petition because it said it was not shown to be the most cost effective alternative, but the commission also said the pipeline was needed to meet future energy needs.

The Sabal Trail pipeline project was announced in 2013 as a joint venture to serve Florida Power & Light Co. and Duke Energy of Florida plants beginning in May 2017. Later that year, the PSC approved a request by Florida Power & Light to recover costs for the project from its customers.

In July, the Department of Environmental Protection said it intended to issue a state environmental resource permit for the project, which will affect 408 acres of wetlands. In August, the state Acquisition and Restoration Council granted approval for the pipeline to cross nearly 100 acres of state parks, state forests and state recreation trails. In some cases the pipeline will be drilled under rivers.

Meanwhile, permit applications are pending with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the pipeline and with the Army Corps of Engineers for wetlands and waterway impacts.

A hearing on the state permit challenge was held in mid-October, before the EPA issued its comment letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

At the same time, political opposition to the pipeline was building in Georgia. On Oct. 23, four Georgia congressmen sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission raising concerns about the threat of health and safety risks to disadvantaged black communities where the pipeline crosses.

The commission is obligated to consider environmental justice issues involving the pipeline, wrote Democratic U.S. Reps. Sanford D. Bishop Jr., John Lewis, Henry C. “Hank” Johnson Jr. and David Scott.

“Apart from the above legal considerations, common sense would suggest that a pipeline carrying a highly flammable substance and a massive polluting industrial facility should not be placed in any residential community, much less an environmental justice community,” they wrote. They also raised concerns about the region’s vulnerable geology of karst limestone that resemble Swiss cheese with its porous rock and watery passages.

In the Oct. 26 EPA comment letter, Christopher A. Militscher, chief of the agency’s NEPA Program Office, raised concerns about threats in Florida to springs and the Floridan Aquifer and “sensitive and vulnerable” karst geology as well as environmental justice communities. And the project, he noted, will affect 177 acres of numerous conservation areas in the three states, including Florida’s Green Swamp.

“The EPA recommends that the FERC re-evaluate its environmental alternatives analysis for routes that avoid environmentally sensitive areas including jurisdictional wetlands, conservation areas, (environmental justice) communities and sensitive karst terrain areas prior to proceeding with a final EIS (environmental impact statement),” Militscher wrote.

And an attached report with the letter raised numerous concerns about how the pipeline could be damaged by sinkhole collapse and cause contamination of springs and waterways. The report also noted that gas pipeline explosions in other states had left behind huge craters.

“The creation of craters in a sensitive, vulnerable aquifer such as the Floridan Aquifer are a problem to be avoided,” the EPA report said. “FERC provides no assurances with its route selection or karst mitigation that crater creation will be avoided.”

Four days later, the WWALS Watershed Coalition, in its legal challenge to the DEP permit, formally asked Canter to take “judicial notice” of the document in the challenge to the state permit. The group said the flow of the Suwannee River and other waterways could be affected by the pipeline.

“This is significant new evidence that was not available at the time of the expedited hearing,” the motion said.

On Nov. 2, Sabal Trail Transmission filed a motion arguing that the opponents had an opportunity to present facts during an earlier hearing and should not be allowed to retry the case. DEP joined Sabal Trail Transmission LLC in opposition to the opponents’ motion.

The EPA comment letter “is not an excuse to untimely request a second bite at the litigation apple,” the company wrote in its motion.

In denying the environmental group’s request, Canter said that taking notice of the EPA concerns would not have established their validity.

“The fact that EPA expressed concerns to FERC is not material in this state administrative proceeding,” he wrote on Nov. 9.

And Sabal Trail Transmission LLC told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that many of the issues raised by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency don’t apply to the limited commission proceedings under the federal Natural Gas Act or EPA review under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The DEP spokeswoman who twice was asked whether the state, as a result of the EPA letter, should continue moving forward on the permit responded only that the operation had been reviewed to ensure that the pipeline operation protects the environment along with human health and safety.

“The department’s (DEP) intent to issue was based on the determination that the application met all requirements under Florida law, and in this case, DEP determined the applicant demonstrated reasonable assurance that the state’s wetlands and water resources would be protected,” spokeswoman Lori Elliott said.

A Sabal Transmission LLC spokeswoman said the company now is coordinating concerns with state and federal agencies and is not considering changing the proposed project or route.

Spokeswoman Andrea Grover also pointed to the company’s Nov. 9 response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that addresses the EPA letter and other comments, while adding, “Sabal Trail remains on target to begin construction (in the) second quarter next year.”

In its response to the commission, Sabal Trail argued that a key point for the commission to consider is whether there is a market need for the project. Sabal Trail has said the project is needed to improve reliability for the fdelivery of clean-burning natural gas to power plants.

The National Environmental Policy Act, under which the federal EPA was reviewing the project, allows the commission and the Army Corps of Engineers to consider environmental impacts but not redefine the underlying purpose and need for the project, Lisa A. Connolly, general manager of rates and certificates, wrote in the response.