Although New York presently plans to break ground
this August for construction of a new bridge to replace the 57 year old, seven
lane Tappan Zee bridge connecting Nyack and Tarrytown, New York, threatened
environmental litigation against the project could significantly delay
completion of the new span down the road.
Nick Robinson, co-director of White Plains’ Pace Law School Center for
Environmental Legal Studies says, “Shortcutting the process actually adds time
because things get tied up in court.” Environmental group Riverkeeper’s Hudson
River Program Director Phillip Musegaas adds, “We may wind up in a legal battle
over this. We don’t think the current project should go forward the way it is.
We don’t think it complies with environmental law on a range of issues,
everything from the lack of a mass transit option to how to deal with
endangered species.”
Musegaas complains that the state has done a poor job
of studying the effects bridge construction will have on Hudson River sturgeon,
a prehistoric fish recently added to the endangered species list. Additionally,
the Clean Air Act requires New York to demonstrate that the new bridge will
improve air quality by lowering car and truck tailpipe emissions.
