The lawsuit, filed three years ago, challenged a $500 million rail-yard project that the Port of Los Angeles and the L.A. City Council had hoped would provide traffic relief and environmental benefits. This would mostly be achieved by removing 1.3 million semi-truck trips on the 710 Freeway.
Long Beach and other litigants filed suit because they believed that the City of Los Angeles and BNSF Railways did not provide a complete analysis of the project’s environmental impacts, which would affect the people living in west Long Beach more than anyone else.
Multiple lawsuits consolidated into one in January of 2014 and two years later, Long Beach and company emerge with a judge’s ruling in their favor, the project did not provide a complete environmental report.
The ruling voids the City of Los Angeles’ approval of the project and orders a suspension on all activities related to the rail-yard’s construction. It also requires the petitioners to propose the terms of a judgement which could end the case, or set Los Angeles up to appeal the ruling.
Read more about the rail-yard ruling here.