A Miami federal judge denied a request to order work to resume on a stalled Everglades restoration plan after environmental groups and water managers said that project could threaten the proposed state buyout of U.S. Sugar.

Chief U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno on Wednesday denied a request by the Miccosukee Tribe to order work on a partially completed $700 million reservoir once considered a key component of plans to restore the Everglades. In his decision, Moreno agreed with groups that feared the deal could threaten financing of the proposed $1.75 billion buyout of U.S. Sugar (Greenwire, Aug. 13).

"The court cannot ignore the potential for monumental environmental improvement that the land acquisition would offer, even if actual returns are not realized until many years down the road," Moreno wrote in his ruling. "Delay may indeed be the enemy of the Everglades, but paradoxically, there is no quick fix for its problems."

The judge also said that if the land acquisition did not occur in a "reasonable amount of time," he would revisit the tribe's request (Curtis Morgan, Miami Herald, Aug. 15). -- RB