Filtration Suits Moved to Federal Court
Judge Will Decide if Legislature's OK Needed

By JORDAN MOSS

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has moved to have two lawsuits, brought by community residents and park advocates trying to stop the city from building a filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park. from the state court in which the suits were filed to a federal court.

The state's top law enforcement official took the step because he believes the city is in violation of an agreement it signed in federal court, called a consent decree, which binded the city to a strict schedule of deadlines for planning and building the facility, said a Spitzer spokeswoman, Sonya Sanchez. The Consent Decree called for the city to ask the legislature for approval by July 1, 1999 if such approval is necessary. The attorney general believes it is.

"Under the Consent Decree, the city is required to seek approval if such approval is required under state law and they did not do so," Sanchez said.

In July, Spitzer's office told the city that building in the park "requires state legislation."

Though they did not return a phone call seeking comment for this article, the city's Department of Environmental Protection has argued that it doesn't need the legislature's OK because it plans to construct the plant underground and rebuild the golf course on top of it. Plant opponents argue that the park will be irrevocably harmed because the facility will be 30 feet above current grade and flatten 21 acres of rolling topography.

One of the lawsuits is being brought by Norwood Community Action, a group of local residents, and the other by the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park and the Parks Council, a citywide advocacy group.

Both suits were initially filed in state court. The attorney general requested the change under the dispute resolution provisions of the Consent Decree.

The judge who will decide this case, Nina Gershon, is the same jurist responsible for overseeing the Consent Decree.

Jack Lester, the lawyer for Norwood Community Action, said he was confident his clients would prevail in whatever court the case was being heard.

"Since we have a very strong case on the merits, it really doesn't concern me what judge has the case, because it's clearly park alienation [and] the state attorney general has indicated as much." Lester said. "We're very confident."

Lester predicted that it could be six months before the judge issues her decision.
if Legislature's OK Needed

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