Two southeast Baltimore groups are demanding an environmental assessment of the new alignment and station stop for the Red Line at Harbor East.

The Little Italy Community Association (LICO) and the Right Rail Coalition say the Maryland Transit Administration’s plan to move the Harbor East station one block west – and re-route the light-rail tunnel under the Jones Falls and Pier 6 – constitute a violation of federal law without a new and detailed environmental impact statement.

While the issue may seem technical in nature, the groups’ request to the Federal Transit Administration has the potential for delaying the start of Red Line construction, which has already been pushed back because of changes to the Harbor East alignment made by the MTA to accommodate developer John Paterakis.

At the same time, negotiations between the MTA and Baltimore City and Baltimore County for local “contributions” to fill a $250 million gap in the construction budget have further slowed progress of the 14-mile transit line planned between Woodlawn and the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Campus.

In February 2013, the FTA approved the Red Line’s Final Environmental Impact Statement, including the location of the Harbor East station at Central Avenue and Fleet Street.

But three months ago, the MTA confirmed to The Brew that it had decided to move the station one block west, to Exeter and Fleet Streets, at the request of John Paterakis, developer of Harbor East, who wants to convert his bakery warehouse on Central Avenue into commercial space. A station located at the site would disrupt his plans, the MTA’s chief planner said.

The station move in turn forced the agency to shift the location of the line’s downtown tunnel from President Street to an alignment under the Jones Falls and Pier 6.

In a letter sent Tuesday to FTA Regional Administrator Brigid Hynes-Cherin, LICO and Right Rail argue that the relocated station and tunnel will have “a number of significant new environmental and other impacts on the Little Italy area,” citing a new three-story-high ventilation tower proposed on the north side of Fleet and Exeter streets.
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TEXT of letter requesting environmental review
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“Without any public input, MTA has changed where they are going, and they want to do as little as possible to evaluate the impact of what they are doing,” Martin S. Taylor, president of Right Rail, said in an interview.

In addition to potentially damaging Little Italy’s fragile historic district, “which was built on oyster shells,” Taylor said, the proposed tunnel – 70 or more feet under the Jones Falls and Pier 6 – needs to be evaluated for its effect on the Inner Harbor and the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area.

LICO President Giovanna “Gia” Blattermann described the three-year construction schedule for the new station as a “neighborhood killer.” The community strongly opposes the new station location, she said.

Henry A. Kay, chief planner of the Red Line, said the MTA believes the changes will have a minimal impact on the environment and residential areas of Little Italy because much of the construction will be underground.

The agency is reportedly seeking to produce a limited Environmental Assessment (EA) of the route and station changes, followed by a FONSI (Finding Of No Significant Impact) to meet the 1969 National Environmental Protection Act that governs federally-financed projects.

Kay was not available yesterday for comment. In their letter to the Federal Transit Administration, LICO and Right Rail requested a much more detailed Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the new alignment and Exeter Street station.

“Had these changes taken place before federal approval and the record of decision, that would be one thing. But if you’re making big changes months afterwards, the law requires them [the MTA] to justify their actions,” Taylor said.