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August 05, 2013
Newark, New Jersey - In an effort to slow down raising the Bayonne Bridge, several environmental organizations have sued the United States Coast Guard, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Though the expansive and expensive project is in its beginning stages, worried environmental and community advocacy groups hope that the legal proceedings will allow for additional environmental studies.
According to the suit filed by the Coalition for Healthy Ports in United States District Court in New York, the United States Coast Guard did not follow federal regulations regarding the environment before giving the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey the go-ahead to begin raising the roadway on the Bayonne Bridge by 64 feet. In May, the Coast Guard approved the project which would allow larger cargo ships, bound for the Panama Canal, to pass through.
The concerned groups allege the renovation of the historic bridge would cause more environmental damage than the study conducted by the Coast Guard promised. Further, the suit alleges that the environmental impact would adversely affect the surrounding New York and New Jersey communities. Conducting a separate study, the concerned environmental groups claim that the project would expose the surrounding communities to toxic materials including lead, arsenic and asbestos. The suit claims that part of the Bayonne Bridge reconstruction would occur on former industrial properties.
Lead, arsenic and asbestos are highly toxic materials that can cause a litany of serious medical conditions. Asbestos, for example, is a naturally-occurring mineral used primarily in the production of building and plumbing materials. Unlike some manmade materials, asbestos does not disintegrate and can pose a long-term threat to health. In reference to the Bayonne Bridge reconstruction project, the environmental groups are chiefly concerned that the project will allow microscopic asbestos particles to contaminate the air. Exposure to this toxic dust, as it is commonly called, can lead to asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma cancer.
In all, the concerned environmental groups hope that additional, more comprehensive, environmental studies are conducted before any considerable work begins.
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