Tribes were asked for views on big Northeast bridge project

Friday, January 3, 2014  

Several tribes were asked for their views on a $1.3 billion bridge project in New York and New Jersey as part of an environmental review process that observers say is outdated and cumbersome.

The Bayonne Bridge project affects land in historic Lenni Lenape, or Delaware, territory. So the U.S. Coast Guard contacted tribes in New York, New Jersey and Oklahoma to inform them of potential impacts on cultural resources.

Most tribes did not participate in formal consultation, according to the final environmental assessment that was issued in May 2013. But the entire process required significant effort -- the proposal began in 2009 -- and involved more than 300 different agencies and entities.

“Environmental review has evolved into an academic exercise like a game of who can find the most complications,” Philip K. Howard, an attorney who has included the project in an upcoming book, told The New York Times. “The Balkanization of authority among different agencies and levels of government creates a dynamic of buck-passing.”

Construction finally began in June to raise the bridge. Work is expected to complete by 2019.

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