Spitzer Hails Major Pine Barrens Decision

Attorney General Spitzer today applauded a court decision allowing a conservation group to sue the Town of Islip over the sale of land for development in the environmentally sensitive Pine Barrens.

The decision, which reverses an earlier court ruling, sets a precedent that will help insure that citizens and groups across New York may be heard on the merits of their claims that government officials have failed to review and mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of development projects.

"This is a monumental decision," said Spitzer. "It says to New Yorkers ‘Yes, you can do something about it. You can get into the courtroom and have your claims heard."

The case involves a lawsuit by the Long Island Pine Barrens Society to block the Town of Islip’s sale of 88 acres of town land on the western edge of the Pine Barrens for development without proper environmental review. The group, whose central purpose is to protect the fragile Pine Barrens, has existed for 20 years and has thousands of members.

But in December 1997 a Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge ruled that the group lacked standing - did not have the right - to bring the lawsuit because it could not show it would be damaged if the town sold the land for use as an industrial park.

This week, however, a four judge appellate court decided unanimously that the group and its members have the right to sue over sale of the land.

Spitzer joined the Pine Barrens Society and numerous other groups - including Environmental Advocates, Environmental Defense Fund and New York Conservation Education Fund - in the successful appeal of the Suffolk County Supreme Court’s decision.

Richard Amper, executive director of the Pine Barrens Society, said the organization "is deeply grateful to the Attorney General and our friends in the environmental community for their support in this major legal challenge."

Spitzer said the decision "will help correct a dangerous trend where courts are increasingly tossing out citizens’ environmental lawsuits for highly technical reasons instead of addressing the factual and legal merits of their claims."

Assistant Attorney General James Tierney, who handled this case for the state, said the appellate court’s decision Awill help promote compliance with environmental laws by assuring that governmental decisions affecting the public health and environment are not insulated from review by the courts."