Florida Supreme Court to Rule on Citrus-Canker Case

Hundreds of Brevard County residents who lost trees during the citrus-canker scare of 2002 could pin their hopes for getting extra money from the state on a Florida Supreme Court ruling that's expected in a few weeks.

The Supreme Court in Tallahassee will rule on a complaint by a South Florida couple -- Brian and Barbara Patchen -- who originally sued the state in 2000 for compensation for cutting down several citrus trees on their property because canker-infected trees were found in their neighborhood.

In Brevard County, the finding of infected citrus trees in the yards of two homes in northwest Palm Bay in January 2002, and in Canaveral Groves several months later, led the state to destroy 1,077 local citrus trees that could have been exposed to the bacterial disease.

Citrus canker isn't harmful to people or animals. But agriculture officials say canker could devastate Florida's commercial citrus industry if it is left unchecked.

The state has since provided residents who lost citrus trees with a $100 voucher for the first tree removed from their property and $55 for each additional tree removed, said Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services spokeswoman Liz Compton.

The Patchens argue they should be paid what it would cost to buy mature trees from a store or nursery, said Jamie Cole, one of their lawyers.

The amount "would depend on how old or how big the trees were," Cole said. "What would it cost to go out and buy a 10-year-old tree?"

The outcome of the Supreme Court case would affect "hundreds of thousands" of residents who had citrus trees removed by the state in South Florida, where class-action lawsuits on the compensation issue are pending in circuit courts. There is no class-action suit pending in Brevard.

However, depending on the Supreme Court's ruling, it would hurt or help the legal chances of Brevard homeowners who had citrus trees removed by the state, and who may want to individually sue for additional compensation, Compton said.

Under the so-called "citrus-canker eradication program," the department removes citrus trees within a 1,900-foot radius of trees infected with canker as a precaution to prevent the spread of the disease.

One of the Brevard residents affected by the 1,900-foot rule was Carla Hill of Palm Bay. The state cut down and removed seven citrus trees from her yard two years ago.

At the time, she was mad.

But she said it doesn't bother her any longer. She remembers getting a $100 voucher from the state, and now seems uninterested in pursuing anything more.

"It was too long ago," Hill said. "There's no hard feelings."

Brevard homeowners who had citrus trees removed by the state have not been restricted from planting new citrus trees in their yards, Compton said.

Tree-and-garden retailer Rockledge Gardens makes sure the citrus trees it buys from nurseries are canker-free before buying them, Rockledge Gardens owner Kevin Riley said.

"Citrus trees are popular" among customers, Riley said. "We get a lot of people from up north, and they want citrus trees in their yard. We make sure we get (the trees) from reputable growers."

Citrus growers and agricultural officials remain concerned about canker's effect on the state's citrus industry.

Officials say canker causes lesions on the skin of citrus fruit that makes it unmarketable as fresh fruit. Canker also causes fruit to drop from trees prematurely and reduces a tree's fruit production.

The spread of canker could lead to quarantines on Florida citrus, preventing its export to other citrus-producing states and countries.

A 2001 University of Florida study found the "farm-level" value of Florida citrus fruit sold to packinghouses and processing plants amounted to $1.73 billion during the 1999-2000 season.

The study also found the total economic effect of the state's citrus industry was $9.13 billion a year.

That includes $4.07 billion in "direct impact" from sales of juice, other citrus byproducts and fresh fruit; and $5.06 billion in "indirect impact" from consumer spending by the state's 89,700 citrus-industry employees and related purchases in other industries.

Left unchecked, canker would cost citrus growers $342 million a year in lost production, according to Florida Citrus Mutual, the state's largest citrus-industry trade group.

But critics of the canker-eradication program figure the cost of canker is much lower. That's because a canker outbreak would affect the sale of fresh fruit, but not juice, which most of Florida-grown oranges are used to produce.

Contact Blake at 242-3644 or sblake@flatoday.net

Florida's Citrus Canker timeline