St. Martin sues Lafayette to rebuild dirt levee in Cypress Island Swamp

St. Martin Parish turned the tables on Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory’s administration Wednesday with a new lawsuit asking a local judge to order Lafayette to rebuild the Cypress Island Swamp spoil banks.

Lafayette Consolidated Government quietly removed the spoil banks from the southern shore of the Vermilion River in St. Martin Parish in February despite previous objections from the St. Martin Parish Government, which was not informed when the work was done.

The spoil banks are makeshift dirt levees, nearly 4,000 feet long, that follow the river’s southern bank around the Cypress Island Swamp in St. Martin Parish, isolating the river from the low-lying swampland and preventing floodwaters from dumping out of the river and into the swamp during storms.

What are spoil banks?: And why are Lafayette and St. Martin Parish fighting over them?

LCG letter: Army Corps inspection finds no permit was needed for Lafayette spoil banks removal

LCG removed about 1,200 feet of the dirt levees without St. Martin Parish’s knowledge in a bid to reduce flooding in Lafayette. Their clandestine removal has led to a firestorm of accusations between Lafayette and St. Martin parishes.

Parish President Chester Cedars speaks during a meeting of the St. Martin Parish Council on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

The latest lawsuit, filed by SMPG Wednesday in St. Martin Parish, comes a day after a federal judge removed a March lawsuit by LCG against St. Martin Parish from federal court, freeing the two to resume their fight in front of a local judge instead.

Attorneys for St. Martin Parish Government wrote that the spoil banks were removed without a parish permit and asked a local judge for an order requiring LCG “to restore, replace and reconstruct (at [LCG]’s sole expense), the spoil bank Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government illegally removed in St. Martin Parish.”

St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars said Thursday his government is aiming to have LCG restore the spoil banks as an immediate remedy and said it may seek other remedies as the case progresses.

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“Our interest is to ensure that the citizens of St. Martin Parish are protected from enhanced flooding risks that we believe the removal of the spoil banks creates,” he told the Daily Advertiser.

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“We believe that we need to proceed as quickly as possible to protect the citizens from being harmed. We don’t want anyone to be harmed, and therefore we believe that the way to mitigate that is to restore the property to its state before the removal of the spoil banks,” he added. “That doesn’t preclude any other type of actions which may occur.”

Though LCG initially sued St. Martin Parish in Lafayette over the dispute, Wednesday’s filing will put the case before 16th Judicial District Court Judge Tony Saleme, of Franklin, unless LCG tries to move the case.

Spoil banks: St. Martin Parish wants Lafayette’s lawsuit thrown out for being in Lafayette

Lafayette City-Parish Attorney Greg Logan responded to the new lawsuit Thursday by saying he believes there are inconsistencies in St. Martin Parish’s arguments and that LCG will make its response in due time.

“We will review the allegations and respond accordingly,” Logan wrote in a message to the Daily Advertiser.

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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: St. Martin sues Lafayette to rebuild spoil banks along Vermilion River