St. Paddy's at the Sun-Star
"It appears that there were no environmental reviews considered along with (that) decision," said Marsha Burch, a Grass Valley-based attorney representing the SJRRC. "It's our assertion that that violates the California Environmental Quality Act." -- Merced Sun-Star, March 17, 2007
The Sun-Star celebrated St. Patrick's Day in fine style, writing fairly about those against child sacrifice to the great god, Asthma, in the San Joaquin Valley.
Bill Hatch
3-17-07
Merced Sun-Star
RMP lawsuits mount...Corinne Reilly
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/local/story/13395685p-14013730c.html
It could be more than a year before a judge decides whether Riverside Motorsports Park can begin construction, or whether it must start over with a lengthy environmental review process...attorneys on both sides say it could take that long to resolve a handful of lawsuits now pending against the project. In January, four groups -- the California Farm Bureau Federation, the San Joaquin Raptor Rescue Center, Protect Our Water, and Citizens for the Protection of Merced County Resources -- filed suit against Merced County to stop the racing complex, which is planned to cover 1,200 acres of farmland near Castle Airport. All the groups say the county violated the California Environmental Quality Act because it failed to adequately evaluate noise, traffic, pollution and other environmental impacts the track could bring before the Board of Supervisors approved the project in December. On Friday, the San Joaquin Raptor Rescue Center announced it's adding another lawsuit to the pile. most recent suit claims the Board of Supervisors didn't provide enough evidence to support its decision to override a previous ruling that racetrack developers shouldn't be allowed to build in proximity to Castle Airport's runway. The suit also alleges the county didn't consider the environmental impacts of that decision. "It appears that there were no environmental reviews considered along with (that) decision," said Marsha Burch, a Grass Valley-based attorney representing the SJRRC. "It's our assertion that that violates the California Environmental Quality Act." County officials said they hadn't been served with notice of the most recent suit by Friday afternoon, and county attorneys hadn't read it. When the Board of Supervisors voted on the project, supervisors Deidre Kelsey and John Pedrozo voted against certifying environmental reviews of the projects, saying they believed they were not thorough. The county's three other supervisors voted to approve the reviews. Fincher said the county and the law firm representing RMP have spent countless hours compiling documents that will make up an approximately 25,000-page official record of all information the Board of Supervisors considered before voting on the project. Among the documents to be included in the record are all plans and materials racetrack developers have turned in to the county, the project's environmental impact report, transcripts and minutes from public hearings, all written feedback from the public, related e-mails, and all notices the county posted to inform the public about the project. Burch, who is representing the SJRRC in the most recent lawsuit, said portions of the record gathered for the other suits might be used to avoid duplicating efforts. Burch said she believes that if the most recent case is handled separately from the others, it will likely conclude before the rest. "Compared to the other lawsuits, this one has a fairly narrow focus," she said. "I don't see it changing the timeline of when we might expect to see all of the challenges (against RMP) resolved." Foster Farms and the Federal Bureau of Prisons -- which runs the Atwater Federal Penitentiary that borders the racetrack's planned site -- also raised concerns over the project. Foster Farms has since reached an agreement with RMP to avoid a lawsuit....the Bureau of Prisons has also reached an agreement with RMP officials... Under an agreement between RMP and the county signed before the project's approval, RMP is responsible for paying all county expenses related to the suit.
Campbell, Joseph, The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology, pp. 459-473.