Attempt to Intervene in EPA Suit Rejected
A U.S. District Court judge has rejected an attempt by two business groups to intervene in a lawsuit by local environmentalists to require the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce federal clean-air standards in Ventura County.
The Ventura County Economic Development Assn. and the Building Industry Council of Southern California asked the court last month to add their voices to the lawsuit as a way of considering the “concerns of all of the citizens of Ventura County, and not simply those of one special interest group.”
Attorneys for Citizens to Preserve the Ojai, which filed its suit against the EPA on Feb. 24, 1988, said the request was inappropriate and would interfere with an impending settlement between the group and the federal agency.
U.S. District Judge Harry L. Hupp, who agreed that the request for intervention was not timely, said the two business groups could review and comment to the court on any proposed settlement.
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