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| [NOTE: On March 5 the Coalition asked Judge Collyer to dismiss the case and she did so "without prejudice." The Coalition made that decision, in consultation with our attorneys, based on the low likelihood of altering the court's interpretation of the law with regards to the project.] February 19, 2004 Dear Coalition Friends: Last week Judge Rosemary Collyer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied the Coalition's request for a Temporary Restraining Order against the National Park Service's (NPS) construction of barrier walls and other security systems at the Washington Monument. This is disappointing news but we are now seeking a hearing on a Preliminary Injunction against the project. You may have thought that with Congress removing funding for the Washington Monument underground visitor center and tunnel that this project is on hold or dead. That is not so. The NPS has only put parts of the project on hold, for now. It is proceeding with the landscape part of the project. If we fail in the courts, within a year or so the Washington Monument grounds will be totally regraded and public access to the grounds and the Monument will be altered forever. The NPS has already begun regrading of the Monument grounds in preparation for circling the Monument with 32" high (and possibly 36" or 38" high) stone retaining walls. The walls would be located on the open grass, approximately 400 feet out in all directions, with only 4 openings to allow pedestrian access to the Monument itself. The NPS has decided that the best way to protect the Monument against an attack by a truck laden with explosives is this wall system. It rejects any other solution, including the obvious -- and we believe preferable -- one employed at the Capitol, the White House, and most other federal buildings in Washington: barrier walls or posts located at the street or sidewalk level. Only one of two federal agencies, the National Capital Planning Commission, has given final approval to the landscape design. The Commission of Fine Arts saw the plan in September 2002 and disapproved several elements and told the NPS to come back with alternatives. However, the NPS never took the project back to CFA for review or approval. The Coalition's attorneys at Arnold & Porter argued that the entire Washington Monument security project -- the proposed underground visitor/screening center (de-funded by Congress for 2004 but still very much alive) and tunnel and the barrier wall system -- violates three laws, the Commemorative Works Act (CWA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the National Historic Preservation Act. The CWA protects the historic L'Enfant and McMillan Plans for Washington and the Mall and the limited open space, which the current plan for walls and other structures would violate. Furthermore, the NPS never sought Congressional authorization for the Washington Monument project under the CWA, although visitor centers (including the recently authorized Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visitor Center) are considered by Congress to constitute a "commemorative work." NEPA requires the Park Service to evaluate environmental impacts of its project. However, the Environmental Assessment completed in April 2002 fails to even mention, let alone analyze, the effect of the barrier walls on public safety or traditional public uses of the open space. NPS representatives have suggested that during large gatherings the walled area (essentially a 800 foot in diameter area around the Monument's base) may have to be closed off to public use. How will that be accomplished? By manning the walls with U.S. Park Police? Will future permits be denied for this centerpiece of the National Mall on the highest spot and with the greatest views toward all the monuments? The National Historic Preservation Act requires the NPS to consult with the public, and although that consultation process is still ongoing and incomplete (and the Coalition has been a party to it since 2002), the NPS is going ahead with construction. Judge Collyer took a very narrow reading of the law and argued that since the NPS is proceeding at the moment only with construction of the walls, that she would address only that portion of the project. She rejected that the walls constitute a commemorative work. BACKGROUND: The Coalition held a press conference at Arnold & Porter on November 12, 2003. Read the press release. On November 6, 2003, Arnold & Porter, on behalf of the Coalition, wrote Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton requesting that the Park Service "immediately stop all work on the Monument grounds, reconsider all plans for the Monument and its grounds, and implement an open process by which alternatives can be properly considered." The high wooden construction fence had already been erected around the Monument, cutting off pedestrian access and blocking views of the Grounds. We received no reply until January 2004. Paul Hoffman, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, stated in a letter dated January 12 that the NPS "is moving ahead with the construction of the vehicle barrier retaining wall system around the monument. The underground facility is not currently planned for construction." The beginning of actual construction led the Coalition to take legal action. THE LATEST: Just in the past week, we have heard from the NPS that they now plan to erect two new "temporary" concession and retail trailors under a 50' x 80' tent on the Washington Monument grounds. Why? As part of construction of the new security landscape, they have demolished the "hot dog stand" that used to be attached to the Monument Lodge at 15th Street and now need a new facility until a permanent facility can be completed in late 2005. What is this "permanent facility"? In November 2003 Congress passed legislation amending the Commemorative Works Act to impose a moratorium on all new memorials, museums, and visitor centers on the Mall. Congress removed funding for the NPS's proposed visitor center in fall 2003. Is NPS going ahead anyway? We believe this project requires Congressional scrutiny and a public hearing. This project never was authorized by Congress in the first place. Yet it keeps growing in scope and in destructive effect on the Mall's beauty, historic design, and open public space. Where is the oversight? To whom is the NPS accountable? The public, Congress, and the media need to be informed. Click here to read the November 12, 2003 press release. To learn more about earlier Congressional actions affecting the Monument project click here. |
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