Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen is expected to request a permanent injunction in Territorial Court Thursday against the V.I. government’s land exchange agreement with Beal Aerospace.
In addition, the St. Croix Environmental Association intends to enter the fray with its own lawsuit, said Yvonne Petersen, SEA’s executive director.
On Tuesday, the Legislature approved the land swap, enabling Texas-based Beal to acquire 14.5 acres of land, once the home of the Camp Arawak youth camp. The land, to be used for parking, will be part of Beal’s proposed $57-million world headquarters and rocket assembly plant near Great Pond Bay.
Beal already has an option on approximately 280 acres adjacent to the bay, where it plans to build a 340,000-square-foot assembly plant. The plant would be the largest single structure in the Eastern Caribbean, occupying up to eight acres.
Opponents of the exchange object that the Camp Arawak land was deeded to the V.I. government in 1974 for "the express and direct purpose of beach, park and other public recreational use."
Christiansted attorney Ned Jacobs, who lives next to the property Beal wants to develop, said he will file suit on behalf of Hansen, who will be the lead plaintiff, and other individuals and organizations.
Jacobs contends that as trustee of the Camp Arawak land, the government is not supposed to trade it away.
"Under the laws of the Virgin Islands, it is illegal for the government . . . to break this trust," he said.
Jacobs also contends that the land-exchange bill violates the Revised Organic Act because it impairs an existing contract — the trust — and that it violates the 14th Amendment, equal protection under the law.
"The bill disregards the law of the Virgin Islands by passing the property to Beal," he said.
Meanwhile, SEA is preparing its own suit, Petersen said, though she is not sure when it will be filed. SEA’s effort may be joined by other groups, including residents of the Great Pond Bay area, she said. At one point, SEA said that if the land exchange were approved, it would sue to be appointed the trustee of the Camp Arawak land in place of the government.
"What we may be seeking in terms of remedy may be different than Senator Hansen," said Petersen. "There is no doubt in our minds regarding the land exchange that we will be successful in how the whole thing turns out."
Beal’s lawyers contend that the land exchange is legal. They claim the land in the swap does not fall under the public trust doctrine, therefore the Coastal Zone Management Act applies to the development of the property.
Company attorneys also argue that V.I. law permits the land exchange as long as the proposed use is consistent with the Coastal Zone Management Act and that the exchange would not impair the public’s right to use Great Pond Bay.
Beal officials have said they welcome the legal challenges to the exchange. In the meantime, they will begin the CZM application process, which is projected to take up to a year to complete.
In addition to the permanent injunction Jacobs will request Thursday against the land exchange, he said he will also ask for a temporary restraining order seeking immediate relief before the government hands the land over to Beal.
