Army Corp of Engineers Writes Toll Road Appeal is Misleading

See Los Angeles Times April 15,2008 article Toll appeal misleading, Army says by David Reyes
Army engineers criticize toll agency
Part of toll road agency's Foothill South appeal is inaccurate, Army Corps of Engineers says.
■ “In a strong rebuke by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency proposing a toll road through San Onofre State Beach has been accused of making false and misleading statements in an appeal to federal officials.”
■ “Col. Thomas H. Magness, the corps' district director in Los Angeles, charged in a letter last week that the appeal by Irvine-based Transportation Corridor Agencies challenging the project's denial by the state Coastal Commission contains false statements and mischaracterizes the Army's role in the planning process.”
■ " ‘I am compelled to highlight a few areas of the public record where I have found inaccurate statements as well as inferences that misrepresent the Corps' preliminary determinations,’ Magness wrote to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which will rule on the appeal.”
■ “The six-page letter, experts suggest, could weaken the transit agency's position by, among other things, calling into question the selection of the so-called Green Alignment that would cut through the state beach. Contrary to the TCA's appeal, Magness wrote, the corps has ‘at no time’ ruled out other, less controversial routes.”
■ “Brian Segee, a staff attorney for the Washington, D.C.-based Defenders of Wildlife, which opposes the toll road, agreed. ‘For the corps to go on record like this, and directly contradict the TCA and say outright that they believe there are practical alternatives, absolutely undermines the TCA's appeal,’ he said.”

See letter at http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/COE%20to%20NOAA%20Gen%20Cnsl.4.7.08-1.pdf