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UPDATE - January 2009

Sad but True…Construction of the Sand Creek Highway has Begun

In late August the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction it had placed on the Sand Creek project in July. The stay was lifted immediately after NICAN’s Hearing in that Court on our lawsuit against ITD and the Federal Highway Administration. ITD immediately awarded the construction contract and began gearing up for construction. Staging for construction began in November. A motion for a Temporary Restraining Order filed in our lawsuit challenging the Army Corps permit was denied by Federal District Court Judge Lodge in mid November.

In December, as shown in the photo below ITD’s contractor finished dredging a new channel in Sand Creek.

On December 19 th fill rock was being deposited on the east bank and pushed over the edge the bank to construct a ramp down to the creek. The photo below shows the first fill in Sand Creek.

As of December 30^th all trees and other vegetation had been cleared and grubbed between Bridge St. and the Cedar Street Bridge. In the photo below, taken on January 15^th, the base for the ‘shoreline extension’ fill in Sand Creek's historic channel is visible.

On January 11 the contractor started clearing the bank north of the Cedar Street Bridge. Below is a photo taken on January 15 th from the walkway on the east end of the Cedar St. Bridge.

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Work has also been proceeding south of Bridge St on the Lakeside site. Construction of a “temporary” fill in the creek on the south was underway when the photo below was taken on January 21 st from the parking lot behind the Power House.

Lawsuit Update

NICAN’s Clean Water Act lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers has been fully briefed and awaits a ruling by Judge Lodge in the Federal District Court in Boise. If Judge Lodge rules against us on all legal claims we will again go to the Ninth Circuit and appeal that ruling.

Some Thoughts

It is an unspeakably sad day for Sandpoint and its citizens as well as the many visitors that cherished what was the town’s lovely waterfront. This has been a long and difficult battle and though not quite over, it certainly appears that Goliath has won. The pressure from Congressional as well as local and State politicians on the regulatory agencies to approve construction of this atrocity has been intense and unyielding. The loss of all but one of our excellent claims in our lawsuit against the Department of Transportation from a very conservative Ninth Circuit panel that chose not to take a hard look at the issues or second guess the Department's decision was also a huge disappointment.  Hopefully the panel of judges at the Ninth Circuit that reviews our next appeal to that court will be more disposed to judging our case strictly on the basis of applicable law, rather than being swayed by ITD’s specious arguments.