The ongoing legal challenge seeking to reverse the State’s approval of Cooke Aquaculture’s proposal to rear steelhead in their banned Atlantic salmon net pens will be decided in Washington’s highest court.
We are excited to report that in March, we were notified by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court that the department reviewing our request unanimously agreed to enter the case for hearing and decision, denying requests from Cooke and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to reject the case.
On March 19, we officially filed our opening brief in the case asking the Washington Supreme Court to reverse the lower Court decision, find that WDFW violated SEPA with their insufficient review, invalidate Cooke’s permit and the underlying SEPA determination, and to begin preparing an EIS.
Background
In February of 2020, Wild Fish Conservancy and our partners at the Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, and Friends of the Earth, filed a lawsuit against the Washingotn Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) for violating state law by permitting Cooke's new proposal without requiring a comprehensive environmental impact statement (EIS). This type of review would have fully analyzed the risks posed to wild fish, water quality, and the overall health of Puget Sound.
In November 2020, a lower Court made an unfortunate ruling to uphold WDFW’s approval of Cooke’s steelhead proposal stating the Court did not have the scientific expertise necessary to overrule the agency’s opinion. As a result, the Judge was unable to consider the merits of the lawsuit and deferred to WDFW on the very decision and underlying scientific review being challenged.
Appealing to Washington’s Highest court
With the merits of the case unresolved, Wild Fish Conservancy and our partners promptly and without hesitation filed an appeal of the lower Court’s decision. Given the urgent need for a timely ruling in the case and the overwhelming public interest in the outcome, we made the decision to file our appeal straight to the Washington Supreme Court, skipping over the Appeals Court all together.
We knew the decision involved risk, but with its increased capabilities and resources, Washington’s highest Court would be far more capable and prepared to address the technical merits of this case moving forward.
WDFW and Cooke both submitted documents to the Court requesting that the Supreme Court deny our request and reject the case. The argued “WDFW’s SEPA review is not an issue of broad public import warranting direct review by this Court.”
An ironic statement considering the agency acknowledged the public’s participation in the public comment period of WDFW’s SEPA review was unprecedented, needing to be extended twice to accommodate the thousands of individuals, Tribal Nations, state agencies, public officials, businesses, and organizations overwhelming opposing WDFW’s decision and calling for an EIS.
We are excited to report that in March, we were notified by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court that the department reviewing our request unanimously agreed to enter the case for hearing and decision.
On March 19, we officially filed our opening brief in the case asking the Washington Supreme Court to reverse the lower Court decision, find that WDFW violated SEPA with their insufficient review, invalidate Cooke’s permit and the underlying SEPA determination, and to begin preparing an EIS.
We will be sure to keep you updated as the case moves forward in 2021.