SAN DIEGO – An Alaska company alleges an Alpine construction business trespassed on its property and harmed wildlife.
Kearny Mesa Real Estate Holdings Inc. filed a complaint on Nov. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against K T A Construction Inc. citing the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act and other counts.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that its San Diego property contains vernal pool basins and vernal pool watershed containing the San Diego fairy shrimp that was designated as an endangered species in 1997. The suit states the defendant was granted a temporary right of entry permit to the California Highway Patrol (CHP) property for a construction laydown area, but instead of using only the CHP area, the defendant cut a hole in the fence protecting plaintiff's property and intentionally entered without permission and set up a staging area for its construction purposes, which modified, degraded and destroyed the habitat used by the San Diego fairy shrimp. The plaintiff alleges this occurred between March and May of this year.
The plaintiff holds K T A Construction Inc. responsible because the defendant allegedly impaired the breeding, feeding and sheltering habitat of an endangered species, harmed plaintiff's property by storing construction materials and disposing of soil and gravel, and intentionally entered a known private property without permission.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against defendant, injunctive relief, attorneys’ fees and expert witness costs, damages, interest, costs and further relief as the court may deem proper. It is represented by Linda C. Beresford and S. Wayne Rosenbaum of Opper & Varco LLP in San Diego.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California Case number 3:16-cv-02766