Environmentalists sue to prevent desert Hyundai track
TIM MOLLOY
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Environmental groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday, objecting to permits it issued allowing Hyundai Motor Co. and California City to build an automotive test track in the Southern California desert.
The Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife said the track would destroy or degrade nearly 4,500 acres of desert wildlands that are home to threatened species including the Mojave ground squirrel and desert tortoise.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Riverside, seeks to revoke the permits for construction until the city and the company conduct a more complete environmental analysis, and secure enough land to preserve the tortoises. If no other property can be found, the groups would seek a halt to the construction, said Cynthia Wilkerson, a species associates with Defenders of Wildlife.
The Korean automaker broke ground last week on the $50 million track to test vehicles from Hyundai and Kia. The company said it was expected to create 40 jobs.
The 4,300-acre facility, some 100 miles north of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert, would feature a 6.4-mile oval track, a vehicle-handling course inside the oval track, a paved hill road and several special surface roads. A 30,000-square-foot complex for offices and indoor testing also would be built.
Wilkerson said the federal lawsuit focuses on the tortoise because it is federally protected while the squirrel is not. Under the building plan, tortoises would be moved from an area in the south of the desert community to a preserve in the north.
About 20 tortoises have been identified at the building site that could be moved to the preserve, which is home to 1,000 tortoises, Wilkerson said.
The move could pose a danger to both populations, because they would compete for resources and the new tortoises could spread disease among the preserve, Wilkerson said. Fish and Wildlife's own policies discourage moving the animals, she said.
"Movement of the tortoises is an extremely risky proposition," she said.
California City Mayor Larry Adams said the city had received the proper state and federal permits for the move. He said Hyundai was paying millions to relocate the tortoises and buy 4,400 acres of land to expand the preserve.
"Hyundai has been absolutely amazing at meeting the needs of these little critters," he said. "I don't know what else you can do if you want to do business in California. I'm almost to the point where I'm beginning not to appreciate the environmental position."
Hyundai spokeswoman Toni Honsowetz and Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Lois Grunwald declined comment, saying their lawyers had not had time to review the lawsuit.
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