Northern Virginia county sues to block Trump from building his arch
Story by Liam Bowman, Teo Armus, Dan Diamond • 3d •
Northern Virginia county sues to block Trump from building his arch
Arlington County's local elected body sued to block construction of President Donald Trump's planned triumphal arch on Thursday, arguing that administration officials bypassed a key review process in their push to begin work on the structure.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Virginia, argues that the Trump administration failed to adequately evaluate potential environmental impacts of the project as required by federal law.
The Trump administration plans to build the arch on an island in the Potomac River that is officially part of D.C. but within a few hundred meters of Arlington, home to about 240,000 people, the Pentagon and several other federal agencies.
The lawsuit alleges that the National Park Service completed only a "cursory" review of the arch project in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, which mandates that federal agencies carefully review the impacts of major projects and consider reasonable alternatives.
The Park Service's "truncated review was inappropriate for the project and failed to assess its full impacts," said the lawsuit, filed by the five-person Arlington County Board, which is made up entirely of Democrats.
Trump has said that the 250-foot-tall arch - which would be the tallest triumphal arch in the world - should be built to honor the nation's 250th anniversary. The administration also contends it does not need congressional approval for the arch because lawmakers a century ago authorized a somewhat similar project near the site.
Democracy Forward, a left-leaning legal advocacy group, joined the county in filing the lawsuit.
The complaint names the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service and the heads of each agency, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting NPS director Jessica Bowron, as defendants.
Three military veterans and a historic preservationist earlier this year brought a legal challenge seeking to halt the arch, saying that it would harm the experience of visiting nearby Arlington National Cemetery.
The towering arch would be constructed on Memorial Circle, a traffic roundabout tucked inside Washington's boundaries near Arlington National Cemetery and managed by the National Park Service. Trump last month said that he would convert the planned site into a "military complex," featuring drones, snipers and ammunition, but administration officials recently said that they were proceeding with existing plans for the site, including that it would be open to tourists.
Historic preservationists, veterans groups and others have called on the administration to shrink the monument's planned size or build it elsewhere, warning that the towering structure would overshadow the cemetery, interrupt the solemn corridor that was intended between the cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, and create other disruptions.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Virginia), who represents the district that includes the military cemetery and Reagan National Airport, has also said that the large arch could pose risks to the airport.
Advocacy groups last month criticized Trump officials for moving to terminate a federally required review of how the arch would harm local historic sites, saying that the decision had little precedent and ignored the public's concerns.
Trump officials are hoping to win final approval for the arch as soon as Nov. 5 - when the project is expected to go before a federal review commission - and begin construction immediately. The lawsuit comes after the administration last month rejected suggestions from local officials and advocacy groups to change the structure's design or location. Administration officials also ended a separate review process meant to determine how the planned arch would harm nearby historic sites.
Arlington County has frequently ended up in the president's crosshairs in recent years over its efforts to resist conservative efforts.
The county's top prosecutor, Democrat Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, has repeatedly come under fire from administration officials and House Republicans over her decision not to pursue criminal charges against a woman who had protested outside the Arlington home of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and allegedly passed out fliers with the Millers' home address.
Last month, the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee released a report attacking the county's "sanctuary policies," alleging that county officials' refusal to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement "shield foreign national criminals from accountability."
The lawsuit asks the court to prevent any demolition or construction until an "appropriate environmental review" is completed.
www.msn.com/en-us/ne ws/other/northern-vi rginia-county-sues-t o-block-trump-f 
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