ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604180016
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
The state has been dismissed as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by several New River Valley environmental groups to block further planning of the "smart" highway.
Virginia Transportation Secretary Robert Martinez was dismissed from the lawsuit last week based on the U.S. Constitution's 11th Amendment. That amendment makes a state government immune from a federal lawsuit arising from its official actions, based on a legal doctrine known as sovereign immunity.
The U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration remain as defendants.
The New River Valley Greens filed a lawsuit against state and federal highway planners in November that asks the U.S. District Court in Roanoke to order a more complete environmental review of the proposed smart road, a six-mile link from Blacksburg to Roanoke promoted as a test bed for new transportation technology.
The lawsuit, later joined by the national Sierra Club and the New River Valley Environmental Coalition, says highway planners did not fully examine alternatives to construction of the highway in addition to impacts on plant and wildlife and asks the court to block further work on the road.
The federal government responded to the lawsuit in February, arguing that these issues were dealt with during the first environmental impact review in 1993.
Blacksburg lawyer Sam Swindell, who is representing the environmental groups, said the court's decision to dismiss the state as a defendant does not significantly affect the case because the federal and state governments approved the environmental impact statement in question.
A trial date for the case has been set for the fall, but Swindell expects the lawsuit to be decided on a summary judgment in August.
LENGTH: Short : 41 linesby CNB