LOS ANGELES – A school district has filed a suit against a subway extension project over claims that an environmental review process needs to be completed before the project is final.
Beverly Hills Unified School District filed a complaint on Nov. 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the Los Angeles Country Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Phillip A. Washington seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff seeks to enjoin the defendants from violating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) from carrying its current plans for the Westside Subway Extension Project Section Two or Purple Line Project that will require tunneling beneath the campus. The plaintiff alleges this project will cause permanent and irreparable harm to the school's historical buildings and recreational areas without a full environmental review process and assessment of all alternatives before project design is chosen or becomes final.
The plaintiff holds Los Angeles Country Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Washington responsible because the defendants allegedly deprived plaintiff's rights to its protected areas, resources and the environment, and failed to adequately analyze the seismic conditions, and the potential impacts of tunneling under the school and alternatives to avoid tunneling.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against defendants, declare defendants' violations, require compliance to NEPA and an injunction prohibiting defendants from execution of the project prior to thorough analysis. It is represented by Linda D. Kornfeld of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP in Los Angeles; Clarine Nardi Riddle of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP in Washington and Jennifer S. Recine and R. Tali Epstein of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP in New York.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Case number 2:16-cv-08390