Lawsuit Challenges Rail's Environmental Compliance

Kimberly Lee

UPDATED 5/12/11 4:14 p.m.

A long-awaited lawsuit aimed at halting Honolulu's $5.3 billion rail project was filed in federal court Thursday.

Longtime rail critic Cliff Slater filed the complaint along with former Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano, former Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Walter Heen, Sen. Sam Slom's Small Business Hawaii Entrepreneurial Foundation and other groups and individuals.

The lawsuit claims that Honolulu officials failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, and that the project violates both a section of the Department of Transportation Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. Defendants include Federal Transit Administration Sec. Ray LaHood, Administrator Peter Rogoff, regional administrator Leslie Rogers and Honolulu Transportation Director Wayne Yoshioka.

Plaintiffs are seeking an injunction that would halt the project and require rail planners to comply "fully with federal environmental laws." The lead lawyer for the plaintiffs is Nicholas Yost, another environmental attorney based in San Francisco who Slater says specializes in National Environmental Policy Act law. Slater declined to say how much Yost bills per hour, but acknowledged it was "a lot."

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