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GBCPA Press Release <br /> <br />GBCPA Press Release <br />FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE <br />June 24, 2003 <br />CONTACT: Katie Chimenti, 281-326-3343 <br />Nancy Edmonson, 281-471-4567 <br />Bayport Lawsuit Filed: We Need the Truth <br />Page 1 of 3 <br />A broad coalition of cities, conservation groups and other organizations today filed suit in <br />federal court in Galveston against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding the giant <br />container port and cruise terminal proposed for Bayport. The Corps of Engineers is charged <br />with processing the Port of Houston Authority's application for a permit to build this facility. <br />The suit alleges three major violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) <br />and the federal Clean Water Act. It requests that the federal District Court order the Corps to <br />prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) due to deficiencies in the <br />Final EIS that was released by the Corps on May 16, 2003. The suit also asks that the <br />wetlands policy being followed by the Galveston District be overturned by the court as , <br />illegal rule-making and that the Corps be required to reconsider the extent of wetlands at the <br />site. <br />Joint filers of the lawsuit are the Cities of Shoreacres and Taylor Lake Village, the <br />Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association (GBCPA), Galveston Bay <br />Foundation, Houston Audubon Society, Gulf Restoration Network, Texas Committee on <br />Natural Resources, Houston Yacht Club, the seafood professionals' organization PISCES, <br />and the air pollution watchdog group GRASP--Galveston Houston Association for Smog <br />Prevention. <br />"The public has a right to be told the truth in an EIS, and that has not happened yet," said <br />Jim Blackburn, chair of GBCPA. "We have a right to see an honest and unbiased analysis, <br />and we are still waiting for this. That's why we are going to court." <br />-more-- <br />Bayport Lawuit Filed 2 of 3 <br />Mayor Nancy Edmonson of Shoreacres, the community immediately north of the Bayport <br />channel, underscored the point that the Final EIS contains new information and is far from <br />final. <br />"After five years of fighting this project, we have only now been told that air pollution and <br />noise standards will be violated, and that we will experience vibration from ships that could <br />cause problems in our residential community," said Edmonson. "We have been saying all <br />along that there would be problems, yet only at the very end of this process are we beginning <br />to see the first glimmer of the truth being acknowledged by the federal permitting agency." <br />The biggest concern expressed by the plaintiffs involves the assessment of alternatives to <br />the Bayport site. Under Corps rules, if wetlands are to be filled for a project, the Corps must <br />http://www.gbcpa.netlPress/Bayport Lawsuit Filed.htm 6/26/2003 <br />