CRESCENT CITY, July 11, 2014— In response to a lawsuit filed by Gross Law and co-counsel on behalf of conservation groups, Caltrans has agreed to reassess impacts of a controversial highway-widening project in Del Norte County on protected salmon and their habitat along the wild and scenic Smith River. A settlement agreement will keep in place a court-ordered halt of construction work until Caltrans completes consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service under the Endangered Species Act and Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation Act.
Caltrans is attempting to widen narrow sections of highways 197 and 199 along the Smith River in California’s remote Del Norte County to provide access for oversized trucks. Construction would increase erosion and delivery of sediment into the Middle Fork Smith River, harming habitat for threatened coho salmon runs that already face a high risk of extinction. The project would undermine public safety by increasing heavy and oversized truck use on narrow roadways along the Smith River Canyon; it would hurt tourism and local residents.
Gross Law, with co-counsel, filed lawsuits in federal and state court in 2013, on behalf of Friends of Del Norte, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Protection Information Center, and WW II combat fighter pilot veteran and local resident Ted Souza, challenging the review of the project’s environmental impacts by Caltrans and the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”). Caltrans had slated major earthmoving and construction work to begin this month.
Judge James Donato of Northern District Court issued a preliminary injunction in early May stopping Caltrans from doing any further work, citing substantial violations of the Endangered Species Act, a “haphazard” consultation process with the federal fisheries agency, and the potential for irreparable harm to the Smith River and salmon habitat. The court characterized both agencies’ biological assessment documents for the project as “contradictory and unclear.”
As part of the new settlement, Caltrans has now reinitiated consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service to properly analyze whether the project would jeopardize threatened coho salmon and their critical habitat in the Smith River or adversely affect the essential fish habitat of all salmon species in the river. The conservation groups retain the right to challenge any further agency decisions or environmental documents for the project.
Order Granting Motion for Preliminary Injunction - Souza v. Caltrans, No. 13-4407-JD (N.D. Cal.).pdf
First Amended Complaint - Souza v. Caltrans, No. 13-4407-JD (N.D. Cal.).pdf
For additional press please click here