Are engineers evading federal regulations?

In response to the Bee bloggers that have said to the effect of "there goes Potter again, tilting at windmills with his conspiracy theory."

To conspire is to work in secret with others to commit "said" act, typically a mis-deed or illegal event. While someone might "conspire" with others to have a surprise birthday party for their spouse, it does not constitute an illegal activity. The more typical use of the word might be to describe the actions of individuals involved as a group to distribute drugs "conspire to distribute illegal drugs" or, in the case of white collar crime, "conspire to commit accounting fraud" — like the CEO and CFO of Enron and their now-defunct accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

The controversy now surrounding the bypass project is whether ITD personnel from two offices (Boise headquarters and District 1) worked in concert, apparently involving their consultants (either knowingly or unknowingly to them), in a deliberate effort to evade federal regulations by producing fraudulent (deception for gain) documentation for ITD's wetlands permit application.

The sole purpose of this effort being to secure the permit for ITD's preferred Sand Creek alternative. This rises to a new level of seriousness when we start talking about purposefully evading federal regulations on project involving federal funds by state government officials whom occupy a position of special public trust.

These are not shoes that I'd care to be in. It's a rare day, indeed, when engineers put themselves at risk to doing the "perp walk."

STEVE POTTER

Citizens for the

Sandpoint Tunnel

Sandpoint