Published: 10.08.2007

Federal judge to decide enviros' plea to halt work on border fence
Groups fear it will affect river's flow, flora, fauna
By Howard Fischer
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
PHOENIX — A federal judge is expected to decide this week whether to halt construction of at least part of the fence planned along Arizona's border.
Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club want U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle to issue a restraining order.
Such an order would block further work on a two-mile stretch of the fence that goes through the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area until U.S. Homeland Security conducts what the groups contend is a legally required environmental impact study.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., contends that the planned wall of up to 17 feet high and some vehicle barriers will alter not just the flow of the San Pedro River but will affect both wildlife and vegetation. That, the lawsuit contends, requires not just a study but a consideration of alternatives — and, perhaps, a decision not to build anything at all.
The lawsuit comes several days after the groups asked the federal agency to suspend construction of that section of the 370-mile stretch of fence being built from Calexico, Calif. to Douglas.
Attorney Brian Segee said the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Land Management began work about a week ago.
A restraining order would not ban construction of the fence. But it would halt further work until the court has considered the legal issues.
Segee said Congress, in ordering fence construction last year, did not exempt the Department of Homeland Security from various environmental laws. He acknowledged that another federal statute does permit Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to waive any laws. But Segee said Chertoff has not invoked that authority, meaning his agency still must comply with environmental regulations.
Repeated requests for comment from Chertoff's office were not answered.
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