[CPEO-BIF] Point Ruston, Tacoma, Washington

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

Labor activists file lawsuit over Point Ruston project

JASON HAGEY
Tacoma News Tribune (WA)
May 9, 2008

A group of nine plaintiffs, most with ties to the activist group Jobs 
with Justice, filed a lawsuit this week against the City of Tacoma and 
Point Ruston LLC, claiming errors in the environmental review and permit 
process for the planned $1 billion development of the former Asarco 
smelter site.

The plaintiffs want the court to overturn the first building permit for 
the project – recently issued by Tacoma - and require developer Mike 
Cohen and the city to "adequately address" issues listed in the appeal 
before granting Cohen permission to use the land as he plans.

In their petition for land use review, filed in Pierce County Superior 
Court, the plaintiffs refer to "toxic dust clouds wafting over private 
homes and commercial spaces, frequent and substantial spills of Asarco 
soils on public roadways, lack of appropriate worker safety equipment 
and water-trucks, potentially contaminating potable water supplies, and 
fallen silt fences" since Cohen began cleaning up the site in summer 2006.

Cohen said the work is being closely monitored by the federal 
Environmental Protection Agency, which he said has had no problems with 
it. He believes the lawsuit is retaliation for his refusal to sign a 
contract with Jobs with Justice. Washington State Jobs with Justice was 
founded in 1993 and works to improve the standard of living for working 
people, according to its Web site.


...

For the entire article, see
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/356076.html

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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