Environmentalists file new suit over Indiana’s I-69 project

INDIANAPOLIS — Environmental groups have filed a second federal lawsuit targeting part of the Interstate 69 extension being built across southern Indiana.

The Hoosier Environmental Council and Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads claim that the Army Corps of Engineers violated federal law in issuing a permit for construction of 29 miles of I-69 between Oakland City and Washington.

That permit allows nearly 645,000 cubic yards of earth, stone and concrete to be used to fill in wetlands in Pike and Daviess counties. One of the groups filed a similar suit in February over a Corps permit for another segment of the 142-mile highway linking Indianapolis and Evansville.

State highway department spokeswoman Cher Goodwin tells the Indianapolis Business Journal that the agency is confident it has followed the law.