Friday, January 11, 2019

Purple Line permit challenged in court under Clean Water Act

Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail and two Montgomery County residents filed a legal challenge to a critical permit for the Purple Line light rail project construction in federal court Thursday. The suit alleges the Army Corps of Engineers erred in approving a "dredge and fill" permit for the Maryland Transit Administration, as the action violated the U.S. Clean Water Act.

The federal water law required that the ACE demonstrate that there was no alternative transportation project that would improve east-west travel in the Maryland suburbs without disturbing federally-controlled waters and wetlands. Jim Roy, VP of Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail said Thursday that the ACE failed to evaluate alternatives and declare one to have the least potential impact on waterways.

Chevy Chase attorney John Fitzgerald and retired U.S. Foreign Service officer Len Scensny are the two residents who joined FCCT as plaintiffs in the case. The suit asks the federal district court in Maryland to rule that the MTA's permit is invalid. Maryland officials just confirmed that the controversial Purple Line project will begin operation at least a year later than state and county officials had told the public prior to the 2018 elections, yet another election year cover-up by the Montgomery County cartel.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope these astonishingly selfish idiots are billed for all legal expenses and construction delays when their new lawsuit fails.

Anonymous said...

I hope all the purple line advocates will pay for all construction costs and replacement of hundreds of trees when the project gets scuttled.

Anonymous said...

Some people clearly have too much time (and money) on their hands. They've already caused hundreds of millions of dollars in delays, but clearly that wasn't enough for them.

Anonymous said...

This is so insane (and I am not talking about Dyer's gloss on this). The area needs mass transit to grow. These lawsuits are so ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

The PL was approved for the developers to build around the new stations and generate tax revenue - we all know that - it always had nothing to do with mass transit/transportation....

Anonymous said...

5:13: That's a completely illogical argument. If it's not an effective transportation solution then there's not going to be any development.

Apartment and Office buildings are built around transit stations and highway exits so employees can get to work easier.

Anonymous said...

How did you happen to hear about this lawsuit, Robert?

Robert Dyer said...

7:01: Directly from the plaintiffs.

Anonymous said...

This is good news for Fluor and its partners.
The cost overrun is currently "at least" $215 million and will end up at about $1.2 billion. (That's assuming average performance for comparable recent projects.) Fluor has to pay unless it can pin the blame for delay on others. It can argue that this lawsuit will create uncertainty, delay, and increased cost.
The real issue is how much of the ~$1.2 billion will Montgomery County have to pay. Baling out the state's fat cats may not be a priority for Maryland. I'm guessing Mongomery County will pay ~$800 million of the overrun. But hey, that's only ~$2,100 per household.

Anonymous said...

"Directly from the plaintiffs."

So why didn't you say that in your article?

Anonymous said...

Dyer @ 7:14 AM - So how come it took you almost a whole day longer than BB to publish your report?

Robert Dyer said...

5:39: Are you really that stupid? I broke this story, and it is a brand new story. You seem to be confusing this new lawsuit story with the older story about the project being behind schedule.

The new lawsuit this story broke the news on was FILED IN COURT AFTER those stories on the delays were published many days ago. Think about it.

10:25: LOL. Your desperation is palpable. #scooped

Anonymous said...

Your response conveniently omits mention that the BB article was updated at 7:00 PM on Thursday December 10. That's more than 10 hours before your article was published.

Robert Dyer said...

6:13: Totally false. You're on a lying streak of one whopper after another. I've pummeled you so badly with facts, that you've had to resort to creating a fictional reality as a safe space.

I was first to report this story, even before the Post! #scooped

Anonymous said...

"I've pummeled you so badly with facts, that you've had to resort to creating a fictional reality as a safe space."

Psychological projection is a defence mechanism in which the human ego defends itself against unconscious impulses or qualities (both positive and negative) by denying their existence in themselves while attributing them to others. For example, a person who is habitually rude may constantly accuse other people of being rude. It incorporates blame shifting.

Projection tends to come to the fore in normal people at times of personal or political crisis but is more commonly found in personalities functioning at a primitive level as in narcissistic personality disorder.

Anna said...

A malignant narcissist is unable to feel shame, guilt, or contrition. It's not that it's difficult, he simply CAN'T.