Sierra Club launches legal action to stop DRIC bridge

(Toronto) On August 18th, Sierra Club Canada initiated legal action in Ontario court seeking a halt to plans which would sacrifice endangered and threatened species to build a new, unnecessary and environmentally destructive bridge linking Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan.

The Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) project would involve the expenditure of an estimated $5 billion to build a road through a rare ecosystem that will cause permanent damage to threatened and endangered species. The Ontario government has committed $1.6 billion to fund capital costs of the project. The planned Windsor-Essex Parkway (WEP) would create a new highway network west of Huron Church Road to connect Highway 401 with the proposed DRIC bridge despite a decade long and significant decline in cross border traffic that predates 9/11.

Sierra Club Ontario Director Dan McDermott said today, “The DRIC project would result in the permanent degradation of a sensitive ecosystem and the destruction of threatened species at great public expense, all to provide additional infrastructure to meet a declining demand.”

Sierra Club has filed an application for Judicial Review of the decision of the Minister of Natural Resources to issue a permit under the Endangered Species Act.  The permit that grants permission to the DRIC proponents to “kill, harm, harass, capture, take, collect, possess and transport one endangered species and seven threatened species at risk, and to damage and destroy the habitat of” those species, which would otherwise be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Additionally, Sierra Club will be immediately taking steps to seek an injunction to prevent the environmental damage that would result from construction activities relating to the construction of WEP which will affect endangered and threatened species, or their habitat.

The WEP will affect the environmentally sensitive Ojibway Prairie complex; a habitat to a large number of rare plant and animal species, including threatened and endangered species. The Ojibway complex is an ecological relic, containing Canada’s largest remaining tall grass prairie ecosystem. It provides habitat for the Massassauga Rattlesnake, Eastern Fox Snake, Butler’s Garter Snake, Kentucky Coffee-Tree, the Willowleaf Aster and the Dense Blazing Star, all threatened or endangered species.

Sierra Club’s legal challenge identifies the damage that the project would cause as well as the inadequate permitting process and faulty environmental assessment process which failed to identify the known presence of other threatened species in the area, including the Massassauga Rattlesnake and Gray Fox.

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For further information: Dan McDermott 416-960-6075, (cell) 416-873-3852