A federal judge has denied a bid to block the Port MacKenzie railroad spur project. Monday U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline handed down his decision, saying that extensive environmental studies were conducted over a period of years regarding the project, and that the benefits of the project are great, while further delay in construction would not be in the public interest.
A number of environmental groups, headed by Cook Inletkeeper, had asked for a preliminary injunction halting initial construction of the line linking Port MacKenzie and Houston. Oral arguments in the case were heard on February 7. In an earlier court decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the construction of the rail spur.
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APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
