Canker checks are in the mail

State to reimburse homeowners for tree loss.

Checks soon will be on the way to Broward and Palm Beach county homeowners who lost trees in the state’s failed fight against a crop disRobert ease called citrus canker, ending a legal and political battle that lasted more than 15 years.

The state of Florida turned over more than $52 million last week to the lawyers representing about 85,000 households in the two counties in successful class-action lawsuits over the state’s destruction of their citrus trees. The money, minus legal fees and costs, will be distributed to all households whose healthy citrus trees were destroyed because they were within 1,900 feet of infected ones.

The exact amount due each household will be determined by a formula that takes into account the number, size and condition of the trees destroyed. The distribution of checks, which will take place under court supervision, probably will take place in October, said Gilbert, lead attorney for the homeowners.

“I’m extremely pleased that we’ve finally received the longoverdue payment from the state of the amounts awarded to Broward and Palm Beach homeowners whose healthy residential citrus trees were destroyed by the Department of Agriculture more than 15 years

ago under the failed citrus canker eradication program,” he said.

“We fought long and hard to vindicate the private property rights of approximately 85,000 homeowners in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, and it’s extremely rewarding to know that they will finally receive the compensation awarded by courts in both counties.”

The eradication campaign angered many homeowners, who saw it as trampling on their property rights and destroying beloved trees for the benefit of a powerful agricultural interest.

“We had a beautiful tangerine tree,” said Phyllis Eggert, of Boynton Beach, who also lost a honeybell orange tree to the anti-canker campaign. “That was the one that broke my heart when they cut it down. The tangerines were so good. We could pick them and eat them right there. It was a really good tree, and there was nothing wrong with it.”

Told of the impending distribution of checks, she said, “That’s great. I’ve very pleased.”

Homeowners whose trees were destroyed do not need to do anything to be included, since this was a class-action lawsuit that automatically covered all eligible parties. The lawyers will use the state’s records to distribute the checks.

The cases arose from a campaign carried out from 2000 to 2006, when treecutting crews contracted by the state Department of Agriculture roamed Florida neighborhoods and cut down thousands of citrus trees.

Homeowners fought to stop them, forcing them to get search warrants and throwing roadblocks in front of the eradication campaign.

Finally, the state concluded that the disease, which is spread by wind and rain, had been distributed so widely that eradication was hopeless. The court fights wound on, however, as homeowners sought compensation.