By Thomas Hughes | Bay City News
A long-running legal dispute over the fate of a small island in San Francisco Bay ended Wednesday when Point Buckler Island was sold at auction to the John Muir Land Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization.
The land trust used a court-awarded credit worth about $3.8 million to purchase the 29-acre private island on a 50-acre parcel that is part of Solano County and is situated in a tidal marsh separating Suisun Bay and Grizzly Bay. It’s a critical habitat and corridor for delta smelt, Chinook salmon and other species.
It was the subject of a prolonged legal back-and-forth between its former owner, John Sweeney, and county, state and federal regulators that began in 2016 when the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board ordered Sweeney to remove unpermitted infrastructure he built on the island, including about a mile of levies that he had restored.
He also faced a complaint from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that he violated the federal Clean Water Act.
After winning an initial lower court decision, Sweeney lost his bid to reverse more than $2.8 million in fines for the construction work after the water board appealed the lower court’s ruling that Sweeney did not need permits for the work.
A lien was placed on the island by Solano County, which sold it at auction on the courthouse steps after he refused to pay the fine and its interest of about $800,000.
Sweeney called the auction “illegal” in an interview and noted that the sheriff’s office opened the bidding at the roughly $3.8 million price tag that the island quickly sold for.
The number was based on the fines and interest Sweeney still owes, which was awarded as a credit to the John Muir Land Trust in December after the court identified the nonprofit as a willing buyer that would agree to restore the island’s natural state and promise not to sell it.
Sweeney and his wife were arrested following the auction on an outstanding bench warrant for contempt of court in the civil trial after refusing the judge’s orders to undo the levy work and pay the fine, Sweeney said in a phone interview.
He said the two were released after a brief appearance before a judge and are due back in court in about two weeks. He said he could face as much as 200 days in jail and his wife could face up to 20 days in jail.
John Muir Land Trust’s Executive Director Linus Eukel confirmed that the bidding started higher than the Land Trust was expecting, but said he had no problem with how the process was handled. He said the trust was prepared to pay that amount anyway, noting that the trust wasn’t actually paying anything, but was using the court-awarded credit based on Sweeney’s outstanding fines, which remain unresolved.
Eukel said restoring the natural state of the island would be a costly commitment for the land trust but was critical for the bay’s tidal flow, habitat and species.
“Point Buckler is one of three islands that form the last points of passage for fish moving to and from the Pacific Ocean, Carquinez Strait, and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River systems,” Eukel said in a news release.
He said in an interview that restoring the island would cost millions of dollars and would likely exceed the purchase cost. But he said it would be an important component of the land trust’s Bay Delta Campaign which also includes the restoration of Pacheco Marsh to the west and Hoover Ranch, on Bethel Island.
The executive officer of the water board, Eileen White, said it was glad to put the legal fight to rest.
“The sale of Point Buckler Island offers a new path forward, and we are confident that the nonprofit John Muir Land Trust will restore it into an example of responsible environmental stewardship,” White said in a statement.
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The Land Trust is obligated to comply with the appellate court’s order that the island be returned to its natural state.
Sweeney, who ran a kitesurfing club and duck hunting club on the island after he purchased it in 2011, raised several objections to the result and accused the state of stealing his property.
“It’s been a painful process,” he said.
