BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — State and federal highway officials used outdated air emissions data to demonstrate that a segment of the Interstate 69 extension now under construction complies with the federal Clean Air Act, an attorney for the highway's opponents says.
The environmental impact statement filed for a 27-mile segment of the Evansville-to-Indianapolis project used 2004 vehicular air emission data for Greene County, even though newer data from 2009 was available, said attorney Mick Harrison, who's representing groups and individuals suing over the half-built 142-mile highway.
The air emissions report had to show that the southwestern Indiana county was in compliance with Clean Air Act standards for ozone pollution before the federal government could approve plans for the section, making it eligible for federal funding.
The 2004 data showed Greene County's vehicular emissions were within required limits along part of the 27-mile segment now under construction between the Crane area and Bloomington.
Harrison told The Herald-Times that state and federal officials had waited for the 2009 emissions data, expecting that it would yield better results, but it actually showed higher estimated emission levels.
He said he plans to seek a temporary injunction within the next two months that would halt work on the Crane-to-Bloomington segment or to at least allow time to incorporate the new emissions data into an amended environmental report.
His motion would be part of a federal lawsuit filed in August 2011 that alleges violations of several federal laws, including the Clean Air Act, by state and federal highway officials in the design, planning and construction of the highway.
Indiana Department of Transportation spokesman Will Wingfield said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
The Federal Highway Administration, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that the emissions analyses and documentation that were the basis of the environmental report met the agencies' criteria.
The federal government gave its official go-ahead in September 2011 for work to begin on the span in Greene and Monroe counties.
Larry Heil, the air quality and environmental specialist for the Indiana Division of the Federal Highway Administration, said his department's policy limits comment on cases involving pending litigation. But he said that he is completely confident that the work on the emissions report was sound.
"I feel very good about everything we did," he said, adding that it was in a "technically sound position. A legally sound position."
Heil said this will soon be a non-issue because the federal rules that guided the work on the emissions figures will be revised or revoked this summer.
