by trolleyguy
Federal Judge Rules Transit Lawsuit Stands
Court Rejects All but Two of the Commonwealth’s Motions to Dismiss Conservation Law Foundation's lawsuit.
Boston, MA (March 21, 2006) - In a ruling that bodes well for bringing long-promised public transit projects to the people of metro Boston, a federal judge rejected the Commonwealth’s motions to dismiss all but two of the twenty counts in a suit brought by the Conservation Law Foundation to enforce the so-called Big Dig transit commitments.
“This is a big win for Boston transit riders, and for Boston's environment,” CLF President Phil Warburg said. “For 15 years, we have been waiting for the Commonwealth to deliver on its promises to provide Boston area commuters with better transit. In that time, we have seen the most ambitious road-and-tunnel project in urban America get priority treatment, at a cost of nearly 15 billion dollars. Yet parallel commitments to bring Boston transit into the 21st century have gone unmet.”
The goal of the CLF case is to win a federal court order to require the Commonwealth to build the transit projects it promised in exchange for building the Big Dig. Rather than sue under the Clean Air Act to prevent the Big Dig altogether, CLF agreed to a list of public transit projects the state would build to off-set the air pollution created by the new Central Artery, and to serve the people of metro Boston who would suffer from the increased traffic and decreased air quality caused by Big Dig pollution. The agreement is a legally-binding settlement.
Much of the State’s motion to dismiss focused on deadlines, saying that projects not due under the State Implementation Plan (SIP) until 2009 or 2011 can not be classified as “overdue.” However, the Judge ruled that the Commonwealth’s failure to begin planning and constructing these projects in advance of those deadlines is a legitimate claim.
In the ruling, Judge Gertner wrote:
“The implications of this ruling are troubling: the defendants may be tempted to evade liability and render toothless their air pollution reduction obligations under the Massachusetts SIP by drafting the obligations using vague, deadline-less language. Though I have no reason to suspect such bad faith on the part of the defendants, I note this possibility as a caution for all involved.”
The ruling means that CLF will continue to argue its case vigorously, fight for the state to keep its promises, allowing the people of eastern Massachusetts to .
have the option to use reliable and affordable public transit, rather than being forced to rely on cars, the largest cause of pollution in New England.
Read more about the transit commitments: http://www.clf.org/programs/cases.asp?id=421 .
Court Rejects All but Two of the Commonwealth’s Motions to Dismiss Conservation Law Foundation's lawsuit.
Boston, MA (March 21, 2006) - In a ruling that bodes well for bringing long-promised public transit projects to the people of metro Boston, a federal judge rejected the Commonwealth’s motions to dismiss all but two of the twenty counts in a suit brought by the Conservation Law Foundation to enforce the so-called Big Dig transit commitments.
“This is a big win for Boston transit riders, and for Boston's environment,” CLF President Phil Warburg said. “For 15 years, we have been waiting for the Commonwealth to deliver on its promises to provide Boston area commuters with better transit. In that time, we have seen the most ambitious road-and-tunnel project in urban America get priority treatment, at a cost of nearly 15 billion dollars. Yet parallel commitments to bring Boston transit into the 21st century have gone unmet.”
The goal of the CLF case is to win a federal court order to require the Commonwealth to build the transit projects it promised in exchange for building the Big Dig. Rather than sue under the Clean Air Act to prevent the Big Dig altogether, CLF agreed to a list of public transit projects the state would build to off-set the air pollution created by the new Central Artery, and to serve the people of metro Boston who would suffer from the increased traffic and decreased air quality caused by Big Dig pollution. The agreement is a legally-binding settlement.
Much of the State’s motion to dismiss focused on deadlines, saying that projects not due under the State Implementation Plan (SIP) until 2009 or 2011 can not be classified as “overdue.” However, the Judge ruled that the Commonwealth’s failure to begin planning and constructing these projects in advance of those deadlines is a legitimate claim.
In the ruling, Judge Gertner wrote:
“The implications of this ruling are troubling: the defendants may be tempted to evade liability and render toothless their air pollution reduction obligations under the Massachusetts SIP by drafting the obligations using vague, deadline-less language. Though I have no reason to suspect such bad faith on the part of the defendants, I note this possibility as a caution for all involved.”
The ruling means that CLF will continue to argue its case vigorously, fight for the state to keep its promises, allowing the people of eastern Massachusetts to .
have the option to use reliable and affordable public transit, rather than being forced to rely on cars, the largest cause of pollution in New England.
Read more about the transit commitments: http://www.clf.org/programs/cases.asp?id=421 .
