Sierra Club Wins Challenge To Cypress Creek Town Center And Judge Finds That Corps's Violation Of Clean Water Act Is Part Of Pattern

The Sierra Club, Gulf Restoration Network, Clean Water Action, and several individuals have won a major victory in their challenge to a Clean Water Act ("CWA") section 404 dredge and fill permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers for the construction of Cypress Creek Town Center, a massive development slated for construction and threatening important wildlife habitat, wetlands, and Tampa’s drinking water supply. In a decision with broad ramifications, the Court concluded that the permit violated the CWA and NEPA, finding that the Corps, as part of a larger ongoing pattern of non-enforcement of its obligations under the CWA, had allowed data to be manipulated in an attempt to justify an unlawful permit.