Tysons Tunnel sues FTA
By Monty Tayloe
TysonsTunnel.org, the McLean-based group advocating underground rail, filed a lawsuit in federal court Nov. 26 against the Federal Transit Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and FTA Administrator James Simpson.
"It's not because we want to, it's because we had no choice," said Scott Monett, president of TysonsTunnel.org.
Tysons Tunnel is joined as a plaintiff by the Ratner Cos., a Tysons Corner-based company that believes it will be adversely affected by elevated rail in Tysons. Both plaintiffs are represented by Gary Baise, the McLean environmental attorney who lost a bid for chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors earlier this year.
The 30-page complaint asks the court to "enjoin the defendants from taking final actions, granting any final approvals, or acting on any application for the project to enter Final Design or for Full Funding Grant Agreement or awarding or allocating any federal funds." Such an injunction would further delay the rail project, further jeopardizing its chances for federal dollars.
"They've had an entire year, we've asked our political leaders to intervene, and so far the political process has failed us," said Monett, who added that he believes there is enough public support for Dulles rail that it can survive further delay.
According to Monett, the lawsuit centers around the lack of competitive bidding on the project. According to the complaint, the FTA must abide by laws affecting state agencies that require "all procurement transactions be conducted in a manner that provides full and open competition," a stricture Monett says was violated by the rail project's lack of competitive bidding.
The suit also condemns USDOT for not considering the tunnel option a viable alternative to elevated rail in terms of environmental impacts.
The date of the suit is significant, as the 26th was the last day before the statute of limitations expired on USDOT's refusal to reopen consideration of the two alternatives.
According to Wes Irvin, a representative of the FTA, the administration will respond when they have more information.
"We are aware of the complaint but have not yet been served. The government will respond in court in the future,” Irvin wrote in a an e-mail to The Times.