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high-profile defamation lawsuit is heating up in Utah, where Sonja Eddings Brown, a former public relations consultant for Parker Collier's real estate family, is being sued by Collier for $75,000 in damages. The case stems from last year's allegations that Collier duped the state of Florida into buying contaminated conservation land for $30 million.

    Brown had claimed that Collier engineered the sale of thousands of acres tainted with creosote, a toxic chemical compound linked to serious health problems. However, an earlier lawsuit filed by Brown was dismissed in August under an offer of judgment, and now Collier is taking her back to court.

    The new complaint accuses Brown of launching a smear campaign to extort money from Collier and damage her reputation with false claims. It alleges that Brown published the accusations in a lawsuit and promoted them to media outlets, including the Miami Herald and Naples NPR affiliate WGCU. The land in question was sold by Collier Enterprises to the South Florida Water Management District for conservation purposes as part of a state project called Green Heart of the Everglades.

    Brown had claimed that the land was not properly cleaned up after a former steam milling operation left behind creosote contamination, but an environmental assessment conducted by the district prior to the purchase found no evidence of significant contamination. Collier maintains she was not involved in the sale and is now seeking damages for defamation plus attorney fees.