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· A motion has been filed in Superior Court requesting judicial review of the State’s failure to timely disclose information requested by SCAT chair, Elizabeth Campbell; noted for hearing on 4/16/10. · A motion for the court to issue subpoenas for the Governor, the head of WSDOT and other WSDOT and City of Seattle officials has been filed in Superior Court; noted for hearing on 4/7/10.
Private emails of WSDOT officials and consultants working on the tunnel plan. Read how they manipulated numbers, the public, and how they are still working to make this a “done deal”!
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Announcements Updated April 11, 2010:
SCAT Goes to Court to Seek State’s Compliance with Environmental Laws
On September 21, 2009, SCAT and three citizens filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court challenging the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) handling of the environmental review for the Alaskan Way Viaduct Project - it has been broken apart and now only sections of it are being reviewed in a piecemeal fashion - greatly reducing the level of review that the State must undertake, the amount of impacts that can be found, and accordingly reducing the environmental impact mitigation commitments the State must make.
Despite informal requests (non-legal) by SCAT to the State, to WSDOT and to the Department of Ecology, that they undertake an environmental review of the complete project, how it was originally reviewed in the prior EIS, and that they address critical safety factors in the design of the project, neither department has responded to those entreaties. Federal Court Case Accordingly, on March 26th we filed a motion for an injunction, to stop the State from proceeding to construct one portion of the project that it has pulled out of the original and true scope of the project, the S. Holgate St. to S. King St. portion of the Alaskan Way Project. The motion will be heard on April 23rd at the U.S. Courthouse.* The filings for our Federal court motion and our exhibits can be found at the following link:
http://www.scatnow.com/Federal%20Court%20Case/
Superior Court Case In the meantime WSDOT is seeking to have SCAT’s lawsuit against the WSDOT in King County Superior Court thrown out. SCAT is the plaintiff in the case, and a response has also been filed to the State’s motion to dismiss. A hearing will be held April 30th for that motion at the King County Courthouse.* The filings for the Superior Court motion, including our response and exhibits can be found at the following link:
http://www.scatnow.com/Superior%20Court%20Case/
Don’t Give In To Purposely Induced Project Fatigue As the lawsuits move forward two things will and have happened - one is people will complain that our lawsuits will drive up the cost of the Viaduct project, and two, a fatigue factor is setting in, people are getting sick of the project, regardless of how they want it to go. Both of these public sentiments are something WSDOT and the City of Seattle are hoping for. Our response is this, there is more at stake than just "I'm tired of this go ahead and build the tunnel, do whatever you want". Environmental Laws, Public’s Safety and Health at Stake The State through WSDOT has trampled on the environmental laws, on many other of our procedural and substantive laws, all of which were intended to protect the people's interest in having a safe life and a healthy environment. In addition WSDOT, the Governor, have ignored their studies and data that said the solution they selected wouldn't work. To get around it all they broke Alaskan Way Viaduct project up into little pieces, then they have gone through each piece and said, "see there is no harm here". WSDOT is the equivalent of a rich and powerful bully that wants what it wants when it wants it. Having looked at several years and several thousand pages of documents I have not come across a single time when it stopped and said, “Wait, how much does that cost? Do we really need it? Can we afford it, let’s save money.” No, what happens is they ask their consultants how much they want, write another addendum to an existing contract, and that’s how the coterie of corporate hangers-on have sucked the lifeblood out of this state. Public Needs WSDOT to be Fiscally Responsible and Accountable WSDOT spends tens and hundreds of millions without batting an eye, there is no oversight of them. They are an independent rogue agency – and they have corrupted even the Department of Ecology by infiltrating it with their own handpicked agents that intervene on WSDOT's behalf so that DOE doesn’t do its job. WSDOT counts on you being tired of this project – that is a deliberate strategy they are employing. They want you to be so tired of it you won't question them! Why do you think they are spending millions on "PR"? That should tell you something right there. Managing Public Opinion WSDOT Priority Protecting the Environment, Public Safety Low WSDOT Priorities If a project is so great is it necessary to have a slew of high powered sales people and propagandists out in front micromanaging the project message? Do projects even have messages? The answers are no, but that’s what WSDOT is doing. It is even going so far as collaborating with private entities to make sure there is no opposition and that the bored tunnel gets built. WSDOT prepares PowerPoints, handout materials, display boards, gives them to the likes of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Seattle Association, Ivar’s Restaurants, and works with these people to put on the sales job for the tunnel. At the end of last year WSDOT hired another “Community Outreach Director” for? They’re paying this person $119,832 a year to “maintain regular communication with key stakeholders prior to and after project milestones and/or decisions to ensure they are receiving timely information and providing direct input to the program (AWV project) Administrator. Key stakeholders include: City of Seattle, King County, Port of Seattle, North and South portal stakeholders, labor organizations, and the business community, chamber, and Downtown Seattle Association”. Do you see your name or any community organization that you are a part of listed? Where is Public Value? In the end, this bored tunnel is not about providing public value – and if those that want to give up and let this go on because it’s too hard to be ever vigilant, then it is as one our founders said, you get the government you deserve. Those of us fighting this – we don’t want a government that wastes money, scoffs at health and safety, doesn’t care about the environment, and that turns us upside down at every turn and shakes the rapidly diminishing loose change from our pockets.
*Hearing Times/Dates/Places:
Federal Case: May 7, 2010 U.S. Courthouse, 700 Stewart Street, 16th Floor Hearing Time: To be announced
Superior Court Case: April 30, 2010 1:30 PM King County Courthouse Third and James, Courtroom W 728 (Seventh floor, west side of court building)
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AND FOR AN ELEVATED SOLUTION |