Put the ICC on hold, a majority of Montgomery council asks governor

Agreement filed Friday allows construction to begin as early as Tuesday

A letter to Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) on Friday says that destruction of assets — homes or forests — ‘‘at this time would send a message to the community that the state is pre-judging the outcome of the court suits.”

The letter also urges the state not to potentially waste tax dollars and destroy environmental resources, said Councilman Philip M. Andrews, the driving force behind the letter and a longtime ICC opponent.

‘‘It’s not as if these suits are a year away. They are under way right now,” he said.

A federal court judge heard, but did not rule on, the first of two lawsuits on Oct. 1. The hearing on the second lawsuit is scheduled for Oct. 29.

Also on Friday, a stipulation was filed in U.S. District Court, describing work on the project that can begin Tuesday. The work includes installing sediment controls, clearing medians and relocating utilities and is the only work that may be done between Tuesday and Nov. 12.

Opponents have argued that ICC is too expensive, will not alleviate traffic on existing roads and will harm the environment.

O’Malley has not been swayed by the opposition.

‘‘The governor feels that the project has been studied, and it is time to move forward on the ICC,” Rick Abbruzzese, O’Malley’s spokesman, said Friday afternoon.

Last month, the Prince George’s County Council unanimously reaffirmed its opposition to the project.

Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg said Friday’s letter does not signal any decision by the council on the merits of the project.

Joining Andrews in signing the letter are Council President Marilyn J. Praisner (D-Dist. 4) of Calverton and colleagues Marc Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park, Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring and Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At large) of North Bethesda.

‘‘As soon as we got five [council members,] we went with the letter,” Andrews said. ‘‘We wanted to get this out quickly. We did not reach everyone.”

Here is the unedited text of the letter sent Friday to Gov. Martin O’Malley by five of the nine County Council members:

Governor Martin O’Malley

State House

Annapolis, MD 21401

Dear Governor O’Malley:

We are writing to urge you to prevent the destruction of any homes, other buildings, or any significant environmental resources related to construction of the Intercounty Connector, and to hold off on taking any additional homes related to the ICC, until the litigation in federal court regarding the ICC is fully resolved.

We are concerned that homes or forests in the ICC right-of-way now owned by the State of Maryland might be cleared prior to the resolution of the suits in federal court challenging the legal adequacy of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the ICC. To destroy these State assets prior to resolution of the court suits could prove to be fiscally and⁄or environmentally irresponsible should a court send the ICC back to the drawing board. Equally important, destruction of these assets at this time would send a message to the community that the State is pre-judging the outcome of the court suits.

We appreciate your attention to this matter, and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Phil Andrews

Marc Elrich

Valerie Ervin

Marilyn Praisner

Duchy Trachtenberg