Pols pushed for bridge's quick fix

MICHAEL BURNHAM, THE OLYMPIAN

OLYMPIA -- Political pressure from Washington, D.C., helped clear construction of a temporary bridge between downtown and the west side.

But federal officials who signed off on the bridge say the environment will not get short shrift.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration said Tuesday that they would declare damage to the Fourth Avenue bridge sustained during the Nisqually Earthquake an emergency under the Endangered Species Act.

The declaration allows the city to immediately construct a temporary trestle between the existing Fourth Avenue and Fifth Avenue bridges.

The declaration is underscored with orders that bridge workers keep close watch over Deschutes River wildlife protected under the Endangered Species Act.

City officials hope to begin temporary trestle construction in April and permanent bridge construction in November.

"They decided it on its own merits," said U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash. "Our role was to elucidate the merits.

Baird, as well as Washington Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, wrote U.S. Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta on Monday, calling for the emergency declaration. Federal Emergency Management Director Joe Allbaugh also pressed Mineta.

Although city officials first asked for the declaration March 12, Federal Highway officials said they needed concurrence from the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In this case, Fish and Wildlife oversees bald eagles and the Fisheries Service oversees chinook salmon. Both are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Under normal circumstances, the agencies would have to issue a biological opinion about the effects of bridge construction on wildlife before the project could proceed.

The emergency declaration allows them to do it after trestle construction.

"We will watch how it affects the eagles," Fish and Wildlife spokesman Doug Zimmer said of a pair of eagles that nested next to the Governor's Mansion last year but are building a new nest south of the site.

"If we see that construction is bothering them, we'll use the ... information to minimize conflicts."

Zimmer said his agency agreed to an emergency declaration because of the eagle pair's living habits.

"The nest is a goodly distance away and these are urban birds," he said. "They may be used to a fair amount of human activity."

That left the declaration hinging on the National Marine Fisheries Service, said Federal Highway Administration's Gary Hughes, who oversees all federally funded highway projects in Washington.

Hughes said his agency and Fisheries officials disagreed whether the damaged bridge constituted an emergency, which means it presents imminent threats to life or property. The agencies use two different written interpretations of an emergency declaration.

The quake crippled the Fourth Avenue bridge and Deschutes Parkway, leaving only the Fifth Avenue bridge as a two-lane link between downtown and the west side.

In its March 26 letter to the transportation secretary, Olympia's congressional delegation reported that emergency vehicle response times have been seriously compromised as a result of bridge damage.

"In some cases, those needing critical emergency, medical or fire personnel are waiting two times as long," the letter stated.

Hughes said National Marine Fisheries Service officials concurred with his agency's interpretation of an emergency Tuesday.

Fisheries' state habitat chief Steve Landino said his agency wasn't a holdout.

"We're pretty persuaded by this one," Landino said. "If they would have declared this an emergency three weeks ago, we wouldn't have opposed it."

Michael Burnham covers Olympia for The Olympian. He can be reached at 704-6869.

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