SOUTH COUNTY : Tollway Agency Sues Environmentalists

In a preemptive strike, an Orange County agency sued environmentalists in federal court Monday to pave the way for quick construction of the San Joaquin Hills tollway. The strategy, aimed at speeding a court decision that otherwise might take a year or more, was immediately blasted as an attempt to “break” environmentalists financially.

“Obviously, it’s an attempt to crush your opposition,” said Norm Grossman, a board member of Laguna Greenbelt Inc., one of the defendants in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency. “It’s a great example of big government against people who are fighting for something they believe in.”

Other defendants named in the federal lawsuit are the Laguna Canyon Conservancy, Save Our San Juan, Stop Polluting Our Newport and activist Elizabeth Leeds of Laguna Beach.

The environmental impact statement needed for the 15-mile, $778-million project has been approved and the agency is ready to proceed with construction, the lawsuit states.

“Any delay in the initiation of construction of the project will substantially increase the cost of the project,” the complaint adds. “The strategy of project opponents . . . is to maintain the threat of litigation and litigation itself for as long as possible in the hope that the mere passage of time without a resolution of such claims will result in the demise of the project.”

If built, the tollway will link the existing terminus of the Corona del Mar Freeway at Jamboree Road with Interstate 5 near San Juan Capistrano.