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Legal action taken against Point Ruston

By John Larson

Nine plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit against the city of Tacoma and Point Ruston LLC.  They claim errors were made in the environmental review of the major mixed-use development underway on the former Asarco copper smelter site.

The plaintiffs, some who have ties to the activist group Jobs With Justice, want the court to overturn the first building permit that was issued and force the city and developer Mike Cohen to address alleged environmental problems stemming from contaminated soil on the former Superfund site.

Graham resident Wendy Hall is a plaintiff. She is co-chair of the Pierce County chapter of Jobs With Justice, a group with ties to organized labor, but she stressed the legal action is being taken by individuals, not by the organization.

Hall claims construction workers do not have adequate protective gear and trucks leaving the site track out soil contaminated with arsenic and cadmium. “This is a Superfund site for a reason,” she said.

She said a witness on her side is a former worker who plans to present medical records as evidence.

Specifically, the legal action is an appeal of the environmental impact statement. She said it is inadequate because it does not address the proposed widening of Ruston Way and runoff into Puget Sound.

She said it was released prior to the deadline to appeal.

“The city of Tacoma did not follow proper procedure,” Hall remarked. “The whole procedure is a mess. The city of Tacoma has messed this up.”

Cohen claims the legal action stems from his refusal to sign a “community benefits agreement” that would have set aside 15 percent of the housing units he builds for individuals making 50 percent of the average Tacoma income, and commitments for wage rates for construction workers and employees of future retailers in the development.

He said he met with Hall and others, and there were virtually no concerns expressed on environmental issues.

Cohen said he has been focused on environmental issues from the start. “We took on tremendous responsibilities to mitigate this site,” he said. Cohen said he is required to pay an engineer from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to be on the site every workday.

He said he has been open to community input, which is why there will be public access to the waterfront. He felt residents of Ruston and the North End earned that after dealing with years of clean-up issues related to the smelter operation.

“The community did have a right to demand that,” he said.

Cohen said he has a good history regarding workforce issues, and that some of his supervisors have risen up from entry-level construction jobs through him.

Cohen said he is not opposed to affordable housing, but that prime waterfront property is not a realistic location for it. Especially on his site, where he said remediation efforts will add $80,000 to the sale price of each condominium. “You could not possibly do affordable housing here.”

Cohen feels he is being targeted because of the immense size and cost of his project and its prominent location. The plaintiffs are looking to make a statement, he feels. “I can admire some of the attitude,” he said. “We know we will prevail. We are going to hang in there.”

Downtown resident Nora Leider is another plaintiff. She thinks it is reasonable that people who might work in the retail shops or restaurants in Point Ruston be able to afford to live there. “I think we should think about mixed-income housing,” she remarked.

The city has not adequately addressed environmental concerns, she added.

Leider said taking the matter to Pierce County Superior Court differs from the usual tactic of challenging it through the city’s hearing examiner. The process will go faster this way, she said.

“We want his development to not negatively impact our community,” Leider remarked.

City Manager Eric Anderson declined to comment for this story.

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