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The 17-year legal battle over Caltrans’ proposed Richardson Grove Improvement Project has grown longer and more winding than the road itself, and this week it took another turn as a judge ruled against a group of environmental groups fighting the project.

Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Timothy Canning on Tuesday dismissed a writ of injunction that was filed in an effort to compel Caltrans to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). It was the third such petition challenging the Caltrans project, which seeks to realign a 1.1-mile, two-lane stretch of Hwy. 101 through Richardson Grove. The realignment would allow industry-standard-sized semi trucks to pass through.

The petition was filed in August by plaintiffs Bess Bair, Trisha Lee Lotus, Jeffrey Hedin, The Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, and Friends of Del Norte. Together they allege that construction activities would impact the roots of old growth redwoods and other trees in the area, and thereby impact wildlife, culture and recreation.

Caltrans, meanwhile, has pointed out that no old growth redwoods will be removed, and its environmental documentation says any impacts to the environment will be mitigated to a less-than-significant level.

In his ruling, which was first reported by the Times-Standard, Judge Canning says the only issue remaining to be decided at this late stage in the long court battle was whether Caltrans had complied with CEQA in its responses to comments on the agency’s 2023 Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) recertification and Addendum.

“To the extent that the comments raised significant environmental issues, the Court finds that Caltrans’ responses were adequate,” Canning writes in his decision. He goes on to conclude that the project meets CEQA requirements.

Regarding the dispute over whether the project will harm old growth redwoods, Canning notes that Caltrans says it won’t and continues, “Future events may well prove Caltrans wrong; but perfection in prediction is not the standard for CEQA review.”

From the ruling:

Caltrans also points to the benefit the Project will provide for transportation of goods and materials in and out of Humboldt County. On balance, the Court finds that petitioners have not made a significant showing of irreparable injury to the public interest should the Project go forward compared to the benefit to the public of the Project.

A request for comment from Caltrans was not returned by the end of business hours Friday.

Reached via a text message, EPIC Executive Director Tom Wheeler told the Outpost that plaintiffs are still reviewing the decision. “[B]ut I will note that we have previously lost in Superior Court [only] to later win at the Appellate Court,” he said.

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