This article was published on: 10/4/12 12:00 AM
Opponents of the Bridge Creek water-pipeline project are asking a
federal judge to put construction, expected by the city of Bend to begin
Wednesday, on hold.
Central Oregon LandWatch filed a request for a
temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction last night with
the U.S. District Court in Eugene, trying to stop overhaul of the
pipeline, according to the court. Last week the group filed a lawsuit,
questioning U.S. Forest Service approval of the pipeline project.
The
$20.1 million project would replace two pipelines, which draw water
from Bridge Creek west of town, with one pipeline. The existing pipes
were installed in the 1920s and 1950s and are crumbling, said city
spokesman Justin Finestone.
The Forest Service earlier this year
rejected appeals to the project filed by Central Oregon LandWatch with
the Deschutes National Forest and then the Pacific Northwest Regional
Office.
Contractors this week began staging equipment and
materials along Tumalo Falls Road. The road is set to be closed most of
the time until May, which construction is expected to end.