Buffalo, N.Y. Expressway Cap project lawsuit denounces environmental impact statement

The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the New York State Department of Transportation over the redevelopment of Buffalo’s Kensington Expressway with a “limited and imperfect” Environmental impact study.

In February, the Federal Highway Administration approved the $1 billion project in Buffalo, New York, after finding it would have no significant environmental impact. The plan is to cover a section of the highway to reconnect communities and add green space.

But the NYCLU lawsuit filed June 14 in New York Supreme Court alleges that NYSDOT refused to fully study and mitigate environmental risks, despite recognizing the project’s potential to cause negative environmental impacts. . NYCLU says advocates and community members have expressed negative comments to NYSDOT, including concerns that the project would endanger a predominantly Black community that has already been scarred by decades of environmental racism.

“We are upholding our commitment to righting past wrongs and ensuring they are not repeated,” Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, director of NYCLU’s Racial Justice Center, said in a statement. “In Buffalo, it starts with the state completing an environmental impact study. Although the governor, federal and state officials have wrongly championed the Kensington Expressway as a national model, this project will only be realized if air quality protections and mitigation measures for affected residents are provided without delay.

Joseph Morrissey, a spokesperson for NYSDOT, told ENR in an email that his department “has not yet received these lawsuits and cannot comment on hypotheses. The environmental review process complied with all applicable state and federal laws and we look forward to moving the project forward in the coming months. »