State and federal officials violated the Clean Air Act by failing to fully analyze the health effects of increased smog from vehicles driving the Intercounty Connector, environmental groups suing to stop construction of the 18-mile highway argued in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on Monday.

The hearing was the latest in a legal battle between the state and federal governments and environmental groups trying to stop the construction of the $2.8 billion toll road, which would connect Interstate 270 in Gaithersburg in Montgomery County with I-95 in Beltsville in Prince George’s County.

Robert Yuhnke, a lawyer for Environmental Defense, said state and federal highway officials based their decision to build the ICC partly on emissions data from the entire Washington area rather than examining quality-of-life issues in the highway’s immediate surroundings.

He also questioned their use of a monitoring station off Muirkirk Road, about one and half miles east of I-95, when determining the project would conform to federal air quality standards. From that distance, it’s impossible to get a full picture of what effect the ICC could have on the area, he said.

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“It’s essential that someone go out and put a monitor in that location and find out what’s actually going on near that highway,” Yuhnke said.

Lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department and Maryland’s attorney general’s office argued that Environmental Protection Agency regulations were properly followed.

Current methods designed to test quality-of-life issues are not considered accurate and therefore were not used, lawyers said.

Maryland Senior Assistant Attorney General Gary Kuc said the Muirkirk site was picked because it offered officials the “worst-case scenario” on which to base estimates on future volume, development and emissions.

Kuc accused the plaintiffs of being “NIMBYists” attempting to change policy through the court system.

“These plaintiffs do not like the way the Environmental Protection Agency is conforming to the Clean Air Act. ... This is a policy battle, not a legal one,” Kuc said.

The hearing was the second this month by environmental groups challenging the legality of the ICC.

The Audubon Naturalist Society argued Oct. 1 that the federal government failed to evaluate alternate options for locating the ICC.

Judge Alexander Williams Jr. is expected to rule in both lawsuits by Nov. 8.

Major disruptions having to do with the ICC’s construction have been postponed until Williams’ ruling

cmabeus@dcexaminer.com