As a result of the Maritime Administrator’s designation of New Jersey as an adjacent coastal state, pursuant to 33 USC 1508(a)(2), Atlantic Sea Island Group, LLC, (ASIG) a deepwater port applicant, filed suit against the Maritime Administrator and Secretary of Transportation on February 15, 2008. In addition to filing the suit, the plaintiff also sought a preliminary injunction. ASIG alleged that the Maritime Administrator's designation of New Jersey as an "adjacent coastal state" under the Deepwater Ports Act of 1974 as amended, was contrary to law. The Maritime Administration filed a motion to dismiss the suit on March 17, 2008. On Dec. 8, 2008, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Richard W.