An environmental group said Wednesday it is planning to file a lawsuit against Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA and the city of Huntsville to protect the habitat of a rare small fish in Limestone County.

The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a formal notice of intent to bring legal action, according to a press release. That notice comes a day after Mazda Toyota announced it was resuming construction after an almost two-week hiatus.

Within 60 days, the organization said it intends to file the lawsuit "for violations of the Endangered Species Act" due to construction of the $1.6 billion Mazda Toyota plant in west Huntsville if construction is not halted.

If the plant goes forward, the Center for Biological Diversity said it will file the lawsuit charging that Mazda Toyota and the city of Huntsville are violating the Endangered Species Act.

"This massive industrial auto plant will unquestionably hurt the spring pygmy sunfish and what's left of its natural springs," Elise Bennett, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a press release. "Allowing construction to go forward without carefully looking at the impacts and putting a strong conservation plan in place is playing fast and loose with Alabama's unique natural heritage. One wrong step could wipe this lovely little fish off the face of the Earth."

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - which is charged with enforcing the Endangered Species Act - told AL.com earlier this month that Mazda Toyota was in compliance with federal law.

At issue is the home of the rare spring pygmy sunfish - a 1-inch long fish known to exist only in the Beaverdam Spring and Creek Complex in Limestone County near the plant site. The fish was declared "threatened" in 2013 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Mazda Toyota suspended work at the site for almost two weeks because of concerns in protecting the fish habitat, saying in multiple statements that it was working closely with the Center for Biological Diversity - the group now promising to file the lawsuit.

"Mazda Toyota Manufacturing US is committed to preserving and sustaining the habitat of the pygmy sunfish and working with all interested stakeholders, including the Center for Biological Diversity, in order to develop and execute on a conservation strategy that achieves this," the company said in a statement Wednesday to AL.com.

"MTMUS met with the CBD on July 20 and reviewed the site together. In addition to this meeting, independent environmental experts evaluated the city of Huntsville project design and have determined that the best management practices included are robust and protective of the spring pygmy sunfish. We are confident that the pygmy fish and its habitat will be adequately protected, and we are ready to move forward."

The city of Huntsville issued a statement late Wednesday afternoon.

"The City of Huntsville has been working diligently for almost a decade to preserve and sustain the habitat of the Spring Pygmy Sunfish as part of an extensive environmental approval process for the Megasite property," the statement said. "The Spring Pygmy Sunfish environment is better today than when the City of Huntsville purchased the property and better than it has been in the last fifty years when it was a farming operation. The aquifer is protected. We remain confident the designed plan to protect the environment is sound.

"These measures have been reviewed and approved by technical professionals as well as State and Federal agencies, and we are committed to ensuring these safeguards and best practices remain in place. In doing so, we believe the Moss Spring habitat will remain a healthy safeguard for the Spring Pygmy Sunfish very similar to the nearby habitat located in Blackwell Spring/Blackwell Swamp within the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge."

On Tuesday, Mazda Toyota acknowledged its work with the CBD in the statement announcing work had restarted at the site.

"(Mazda Toyota) engaged with multiple stakeholders and environmental experts, including the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD)," the company said in a statement Tuesday. "MTMUS also hosted a tour for CBD to demonstrate measures being taken to help achieve this, including site grading, construction Best Management Practices and related construction activities.

"Following this additional assessment and engagement, MTMUS has determined, and has informed the CBD, that it is confident work can resume on the site in a manner that helps protect the spring pygmy sunfish and its habitat."

The city of Huntsville is preparing the site and construction on the plant itself is expected to begin in October, according to the CBD letter.

The CBD letter dated Wednesday and signed by staff attorney Elise Bennett said that the construction will jeopardize the sunfish habitat.

"The construction of the auto plant involves removal of vegetation, clearing of land, and construction of a massive facility with associated parking lots, all of which are likely to negatively impact water quality, water quantity, and aquatic vegetation in the sunfish's occupied habitat," the letter stated.

The letter also described the sunfish as "an irreplaceable symbol of northern Alabama's natural heritage."

Updated today, July 25, 2018, at 12:32 p.m. with a statement from Mazda Toyota Manufacturing and new information throughout.

Updated today, July 25, at 4:22 p.m. with a state from the city of Huntsville.

Center for Biological Diversity letter by pgattis7719 on Scribd