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Federal
Judge
Vacates
Purple
Line
Record
of
Decision,
Orders
Supplemental
Environmental
Impact
Statement
In
his
ruling,
Judge
questions
"whether
nearly
a
billion
dollars
in
federal
dollars
should
ultimately
be
committed
to
a
project
for
which
serious
questions
have
been
raised
as
to
its
future
viability."
August
3,
2016.
Federal
Judge
Richard
Leon
ruled
today
in
favor
of
the
citizens'
lawsuit
challenging
the
Purple
Line
on
multiple
claims
under
the
National
Environmental
Policy
Act,
the
Federal
Transit
Act,
and
other
federal
transportation
and
environmental
statutes.
The
order
vacates
the
Record
of
Decision
by
the
Maryland
Transit
Administration
and
the
Federal
Transit
Administration,
which
approved
the
Purple
Line,
and
orders
the
agencies
to
prepare
a
Supplemental
Environmental
Impact
Statement
for
the
project.
In
his
opinion
accompanying
the
order,
Judge
Leon
explained
that
the
agencies
have
"wholly
failed
to
evaluate
the
significance
of
the
documented
safety
issues
and
decline
of
WMATA
[Metro]
ridership."
developments
that
may
have
an
enormous
bearing
on
the
rationale
for,
and
viability
of,
the
Purple
Line,
which
depends
heavily
on
Metro
ridership
for
its
justification.
The
Court
further
wrote
that
"...
the
FTA's
cavalier
attitude
toward
these
recent
developments
raises
troubling
concerns
about
their
competence
as
stewards
of
nearly
a
billion
dollars
of
the
federal
taxpayers'
funds."
The
Purple
Line
as
proposed
would
be
an
environmentally
destructive,
16-2.mile,
multi-billion
dollar
light-rail
transit
project
that
the
Maryland's
Transit
Administration
has
promoted
in
one
form
or
another
for
more
than
two
decades.
The
Plaintiffs
who
brought
the
lawsuit
are
Friends
of
the
Capital
Crescent
Trail,
John
M.
Fitzgerald,
and
Christine
Real
de
Azua,
with
the
support
of
many
thousands
of
citizens
who
have
signed
petitions,
submitted
comments,
provided
volunteer
work,
and
contributed
to
support
the
lawsuit,
lawsuit,
which
argues
that
the
federal
and
state
governments
have
overlooked
or
downplayed
myriad
environmental
impacts
as
well
as
far
less
costly
and
harmful
alternatives.
John
Fitzgerald
said
"Vacating
the
Record
of
Decision
means
that
the
FTA
is
precluded
from
signing
a
Full
Funding
Grant
Agreement
as
they
had
planned
on
Monday
August
8th
because
the
necessary
Record
of
Decision
is
gone
and
no
major
federal
action
significantly
affecting
the
environment
can
lawfully
be
carried
out
without
a
legally
valid
impact
statement
and
Record
of
Decision.
And,
as
is
implicit
in
the
judge's
ruling,
this
judicially
mandated
process
offers
a
critical
opportunity
to
reassess
the
region's
transportation
priorities
and
alternatives,
well
beyond
the
Purple
Line
as
proposed."
Friends
of
the
Capital
Crescent
Trail
President,
Ajay
Bhatt,
added
"This
ruling
sends
a
very
strong
signal
to
the
State
of
Maryland
and
any
subdivision,
such
as
Montgomery
County,
to
cease
any
harmful
action
ahead
of
the
law
against
the
Georgetown
Branch
of
the
Capital
Crescent
Trail,
the
trees
that
line
it
and
the
parks
through
which
it
passes.
We
owe
a
great
debt
of
gratitude
to
our
supporters
and
to
our
attorneys
and
the
many
experts
who
weighed
in
on
the
side
of
science,
sustainability
and
sensibility."
Attorneys
David
Brown
of
Knopf
and
Brown,
Eric
Glitzenstein
of
Meyer,
Glitzenstein
and
Eubanks
LLP,
and
John
M.
Fitzgerald
represented
the
plaintiffs.
Christine
Real
de
Azua
said,
"A
long
list
of
experts
volunteered
their
research
and
analysis
to
unearth
the
truth
about
this
project's
costs
and
what
it
would
do
to
our
environment
and
human
health
and
safety.
It
is
also
the
support
from
hundreds
of
citizens
that
made
it
possible
for
us
to
retain
the
expert
advice
and
services
of
these
attorneys.
Together,
this
team
is
showing
that
common
sense
and
the
law
can
prevail
as
we
all
seek
what
is
truly
in
the
public
interest.
"
--
END
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