Neighbors of Radar Site Set Up a Roadblock : Ojai Valley: Residents act after a U. S. judge rules that construction of the National Weather Service tower can resume.

Ojai Valley residents Wednesday set up a roadblock to stop work crews from completing a National Weather Service radar tower atop Sulphur Mountain, despite a federal judge’s order this week that allowed construction to resume.

U. S. District Judge Henry Hupp ruled Tuesday in a Los Angeles hearing room that a Ventura County Superior Court judge’s order halting construction Dec. 23 was not binding on the federal government.

“The state court order does not bind or affect the United States government,” said Assistant U. S. Atty. Donna Everett, who is representing the National Weather Service in the case. “We’re free to go on with construction.”

Some residents around the Sulphur Mountain project worry that the radar tower will emit harmful amounts of low-level radiation. They have also complained that it is unsightly and have sought to halt the project in Ventura County Superior Court.

Hupp stepped into the case after Ventura County Superior Court Judge John Hunter last week temporarily halted construction while he examined whether William and Ernestine Kee have the legal authority to allow federal work crews to use a road that also crosses Agnes Baron’s property.

While the Kees have given permission, Baron never gave her consent and filed her objection in court. On Jan. 6, the Superior Court will hold a hearing on whether the Kees have the right to allow the road to be used by heavy construction equipment and work crews.

But on Tuesday, Hupp said the argument is between the Kees and Baron and does not affect government construction crews.

“We’ve won every step of the way,” said Rick Loy, a Ventura attorney representing the residents. “The federal judge said the case shouldn’t be decided in federal court, which is what we knew all along.”

But Loy said he isn’t sure if the decision will prompt the government to resume construction.

“They weren’t out there today,” he said Wednesday.

A National Weather Service spokesman declined Wednesday to comment on the agency’s plans.

Meanwhile, Sulphur Mountain residents who set up the roadblock said they were trying to enforce the local judge’s order blocking use of the easement until the issue is resolved.

“It’s not right that the federal government can basically say, ‘Here’s how powerful we are,’ and violate a local court order,” said Ken Fuller, whose property borders the radar tower site.

Fuller said he and other neighbors plan to continue the roadblock each morning. “I don’t want to break the law or anything,” Fuller said. But, he added, “it’s not right that government can just come in here and do as they please. I’ll do anything I can to stop it.”

At the urging of local residents, Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) wrote a letter to Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown complaining that the Weather Service has not addressed the neighbors’ concerns and has not done the appropriate environmental impact reports on the project.

“The National Weather Service seems intent on proceeding with construction regardless of these concerns,” Gallegly said in his Dec. 23 letter to Brown. “I request your assistance in ascertaining whether the letter of the law was followed in this situation.”