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CP RAIL VOLUNTARILY
DROPS LAWSUIT AGAINST THE
ADIRONDACK PARK AGENCY
Action Thwarts Adirondack
Council's Efforts to Join Suit
For more information:
Scott M. Lorey
518-432-1770 (work)
518-810-5766 (cell)
Released, Wednesday, August 25,
2004
ALBANY, NY - In a surprise development
in Federal District Court in Albany this morning, Canadian Pacific
Railroad dropped its case against the Adirondack Park Agency.
A hearing had been scheduled on the Adirondack Council's petition
to join the lawsuit. CP was seeking to lift a "cease-and-desist"
order that prevented it from completing construction of four
communication towers in the Adirondack Park.
"CP Rail has decided it did not want to face the Council
in court." said Adirondack Council Legislative Director
Scott M. Lorey. "The outcome for CP Rail will be the same-the
Adirondack Council will succeed in protecting the Park against
companies that want to construct communication towers wherever
they please."
CP Rail of Calgary, Alberta, filed suit against the APA on July
18, after the APA issued a cease-and-desist order, stopping construction
at four proposed tower sites within the Adirondack Park.
The company had already installed a 150-foot-tall tower in the
hamlet of Whallonsburg, in Essex County, and was completing an
identical tower in Port Kent, in Clinton County. Two more were
planned for Crown Point, in Essex County, and Dresden, in Warren
County, despite the presence of a fiber optic line running the
length of the corridor.
Judge Sharpe ruled today that since the case had been voluntarily
dismissed by CP Rail yesterday, the Council could not join a
case that no longer exists. The cease-and-desist order issued
by the APA against CP Rail remains in effect. Both CP Rail and
the Attorney General's office, on behalf of the State, opposed
the Adirondack Council's effort to become part of the lawsuit.
"The State acknowledged to the Court that negotiations with
CP are ongoing," said Lorey. "The withdrawal by
CP Rail means that these talks can continue in secret."
The Council was prepared today to provide an affidavit to the
Court that the Department of Transportation, through a grant,
had actually paid for the towers. Last week, the Council reviewed
extensive documents from New York State DOT through a Freedom
of Information request.
"The more we read, the more outraged we became," said
Lorey, "DOT paid for the towers, botched the environmental
review and apparently violated an Executive Order by the Governor
by not consulting with the APA before the project was approved.
"They have succeeded in limiting the public's ability to
learn about the ongoing negotiations," Lorey said. "But
the Adirondack Council will monitor the settlement carefully.
The towers must come down. That is the only acceptable outcome."
The Adirondack Council's mission is to ensure the ecological
integrity and wild character of the Adirondack Park. The Council
is a privately funded, not-for-profit organization that carries
out its mission through research, education, advocacy and legal
action.
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