KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A lawsuit challenging one of the areas biggest development projects has come at an inopportune time for BNSF Railway, the Star reports.
The federal government is getting close to announcing whether BNSF will get $50 million in federal stimulus money to start building a massive rail hub in Johnson County.
The project must be shovel-ready to get the money, but its environmental permit is the target of a lawsuit, filed by environmental groups and others, that could delay construction.
The state of Kansas and BNSF think the hub is ready to go since theres been no court ruling affecting the project. Critics, meanwhile, question how the project could be ready when its environmental permit is being challenged.
Kansas sought federal money for the rail yard because BNSF wont go forward in 2010 without help because of the recession and falling freight volumes, said Jerry Younger, a deputy transportation secretary for the state.
What they told us was unless they got this $50 million beginning the project is delayed indefinitely, he said.
The decision is up to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which is sifting through 1,380 requests seeking pieces of $1.5 billion in stimulus funds.
The requests total $56.5 billion, so any hiccup could hurt a projects chances.
Federal officials wouldnt address the rail hub specifically, but issued a general statement.
If a project does not have the necessary environmental approvals, or if it is involved in litigation, it would not be excluded from consideration, but it could make it less likely to be selected, an agency spokeswoman said.
The lawsuit by Hillsdale Environmental Loss Prevention Inc., the Kansas Natural Resource Council and five other groups challenges the environmental permit that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued for the project. The suit seeks to force the corps to conduct a more expansive review.
I dont think the project is ready with litigation pending, said Mark Dugan, the lawyer for environmental groups and others that brought the lawsuit.
BNSF disagreed, noting that the permit has been issued.
In our view, the shovel-ready ready status of the project hasnt changed, said spokesman Steve Forsberg.
The hub is part of a 1,000-acre development that promises to create thousands of jobs.
Forsberg said the stimulus money would allow BNSF to start creating jobs within the year rather than waiting for the economy to turn around.
Despite the lawsuit, one state official said, the BNSF project is not tied up in court.
Unless a judge were to grant injunctive relief, they could go build it today, said Joe Erskine, a deputy transportation secretary. Somebody filing a lawsuit does not stop a project.
