POWERLINK OPPONENTS FILE APPEAL

July 22, 2011 (San Diego's East County)-- Opponents of the Sunrise Powerlink have appealed a lower court decision in their federal lawsuit challenging construction of the project across federal lands to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and are preparing an opening brief, a spokesman for plaintiffs’ attorneys has informed ECM.

The 9th Circuit has asked opponents to file their motion to stay construction on federal lands with the same lower federal district court in San Diego that ruled against opponent's lawsuit in June. Opponents plan to file their motion to stay construction with the 9th Circuit once the stay is rejected by the local district court.

In the meantime, SDG&E has stated in legal filings that it will not enter lands that are the subject of the lawsuit (Bureau of Land Management Land in McCain Valley) before August 16 at the earliest and that it has not yet sought final permission from the Forest Service to begin construction on the Cleveland National Forest.

Powerlink opponents involved in the federal lawsuit are: The Protect Our Communities Foundation, Backcountry Against Dumps, East County Action Coalition, and Donna Tisdale.