Courtney Mabeus, The Examiner
2007-11-09 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

A federal judge has turned back lawsuits by two environmental groups and cleared the way for work to begin full throttle on the Intercounty Connector — the controversial 18-mile toll road between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

In a 107-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. upheld an environmental impact study conducted by state transportation officials on the project, allowing work to begin.

Williams wrote that Maryland and Federal highway administration officials’ actions “may not have been a paragon of perfection” in planning for and locating the ICC but that he found “no legal or equitable basis to prevent the Inter-County Connector from moving forward.”

Environmental groups that had sued the Maryland and Federal highway administrations — on the basis that alternative locations for the road were not properly considered and that the $2.4 billion route will violate the Clean Air Act — signaled that Thursday’s ruling might be appealed.

“We still firmly believe that this is a bad deal. It’s a $3 billion project that is going to suck the resources out of alternatives to congestion,” Mike Harold, ICC campaign coordinator with the Audubon Naturalist Society, said Thursday.

The ICC has been on the drawing board for more than five decades and has twice been sent back for various reasons, Williams acknowledged in his ruling.

He wrote that it was “abundantly clear” that the state and federal authorities “thoroughly considered, examined, and, most importantly, corrected the deficiencies from previous failed attempts.”

Williams heard arguments from the Audubon Naturalist Society in one suit Oct. 1. The group contended that the state failed to consider alternative locations for the project.

In another case argued Oct. 29, the Sierra Club and Environmental Defense argued that the ICC would violate the Clean Air Act because it would increase smog levels.

The state has contended that the road is necessary to help reduce congestion by connecting Interstate 270 in Montgomery County to Interstate 95 in Prince George’s.

State Transportation Secretary John Porcari said the agency would continue to work with the environmental groups.

“I don’t want to speculate what any group may or may not do,” Porcari said Thursday. “We believe that the ruling was pretty straightforward, and we’re planning to move ahead.”

cmabeus@dcexaminer.com