DEERPARK, N.Y.—A federal judge has dismissed an environmental lawsuit against Dragon Springs, home to two performing arts schools founded by practitioners of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong.
The lawsuit was filed in January 2022 by a New Paltz-based nonprofit whose founder has ties to China and has for several years waged a campaign against the campus. It also included several local residents, including a resident who was behind another failed lawsuit against the campus in 2019.
“This suit is baseless, and so we’re not surprised it was dismissed,” George Xu, vice president of Dragon Springs, told The Epoch Times.
The plaintiffs claimed in the now-dismissed lawsuit that the school allegedly polluted a local river with fecal bacteria. Dragon Springs rejects that, pointing to the fact that it is served by its own wastewater treatment plant, which is tested quarterly for the quality of the water it releases.
“Our modern wastewater treatment plant eliminates any coliform presence. Regular testing proves this. Furthermore, the treated water is released into the ground. No wastewater is discharged into the river,” Xu previously told The Epoch Times.
Furthermore, in October 2022, the school accused the plaintiffs of lying about where some of the water samples they presented to the court came from. Security camera footage reviewed by The Epoch Times backed the allegation.
District Judge Vincent Briccetti in his Dec. 28, 2022, ruling granted Dragons Springs’ motion to dismiss.
Virtually all of Scilla and Woodard’s advocacy is focused against Dragon Springs.
Woodard has for years tried to block developments on the Dragon Springs property, including filing a lawsuit to force the town to revoke a permit for improvements to one of the property’s entrances.
The case was dismissed in 2019 by an Orange County Supreme Court judge, who ruled that Woodard and her co-plaintiffs had “made no showing of any harm whatsoever” and “failed, in all respects” to provide evidence to back their claim that an additional environmental permit was required.
“This is the second lawsuit filed by Woodard that has been dismissed, and it shows that she and the China-linked organization now backing these types of suits against us are really just trying to use our legal system to stifle and malign Dragon Springs. They have no other purpose,” Xu said.
The Dragon Springs development includes a Tang Dynasty-style Buddhist temple, rehearsal spaces for the performing arts company Shen Yun, and a campus hosting two art schools, Fei Tian College and Fei Tian Academy of the Arts.
Dragon Springs and Shen Yun Performing Arts were founded by adherents of the spiritual practice Falun Gong who had escaped brutal persecution in China. The Chinese Communist Party considers Dragon Springs a prime target, perceiving it as a “headquarters” of Falun Gong adherents’ efforts to counter the persecution.
As a result, since its inception, the site has had to deal with multiple security threats, including sabotage of its touring buses, intimidation of staff’s family members in China, as well as incidents involving trespassing and vandalism on its property.
