Two counties sue Mississippi governor for emergency bridge closures

Less than a month after Gov. Phil Bryant ordered the closure of more than 100 unsafe bridges in Mississippi, two counties are suing him for what they say exceeded the governor’s power and authority. Gov. Bryant has called the lawsuit “extremely troubling.”

Through their respective board of supervisors, Jasper and Smith counties filed a lawsuit on May 3 against the governor, Mississippi Department of Transportation, Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency for their role in shutting down 102 bridges deemed unsafe.

Emergency closures
On April 10, Gov. Bryant issued a proclamation ordering the Mississippi DOT and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to close the bridges that were included in a list of unsafe bridges compiled by the Mississippi Office of State Aid Road Construction.

In March, the two agencies developed an action plan to close all bridges that are considered unsafe per National Bridge Inspection standards. On March 19, the Federal Highway Administration discovered that many of these bridges were still open.

The governor’s office received a notice on April 5 from the U.S. Department of Transportation notifying the state that if these bridges do not close soon there could be consequences, including losing access to federal funds. Less than a week later, Gov. Bryant ordered the closures.

Approximately 65 percent of state highway and bridge spending comes from federal funds, according to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association.

According to the proclamation, unsafe bridges are in the counties of Amite, Carroll, Clarke, Greene, Hinds, Humphreys, Itawamba, Jasper, Jones, Lauderdale, Leake, Lincoln, Newton, Smith, Wayne and “other parts of the state of Mississippi.”

The lawsuit
The two counties claim the named plaintiffs “used various methods to block access to the bridges on the closing list” without notifying the boards of supervisors. According to the lawsuit, some of the bridges were blocked by piles of dirt dumped on both sides of the bridge.

Jasper and Smith County officials argue that bridge conditions are not considered a state of emergency or state of disaster. Therefore, the governor overstepped his power and authority by relinquishing the counties of their jurisdiction over those bridges and affected roads.

“The purpose of the Emergency Management Law was to respond to disasters or emergencies of unprecedented size, not to be implemented to fix infrastructure issues,” the lawsuit states. “The Governor’s Proclamation states that the conditions of the bridges named in the (Office of State Aid Road Construction) ‘closure list’ were identified as early as March of 2017. Therefore, to frame the condition of the roads as a disaster or emergency is inaccurate.”

In addition to claiming that the bridges are not included in state emergency management laws, the counties go on to allege that the governor’s proclamation was motivated by money and politics rather than the safety and protection of the traveling public.

At the heart of the lawsuit is worries that a decision in favor of the governor could lead to a slippery slope. More specifically, the counties are in fear of losing control of roads and bridges. According to the lawsuit, accepting the governor’s proclamation will run the risk of seizing control of infrastructure “will be continued indefinitely.”

Governor calls lawsuit ‘extremely disappointing’
In an interview with WLAU 99.3 FM on Friday, May 4, Bryant referred to the lawsuit as both “extremely troubling” and “extremely disappointing.”

“What my first responsibility is as governor, I think every elected official, is to try as we might to ensure the safety of the general public,” Bryant told WLAU.

Bryant referred to the Florida bridge collapse that occurred earlier this year at Florida International University in Miami when highlighting the dangers of a crumbling infrastructure. Six people were killed and eight cars were trapped when the pedestrian bridge collapsed just days after being installed.

During the interview, Bryant explained the role of the federal government to inspect highways. The governor had received a call from Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao who told him to close the bridges or possibly lose federal funding for the entire state.

“This was a very obvious decision for me,” Bryant said. “For them to sue the governor of the state of Mississippi for doing his job, it’s just extremely disappointing.”

Bryant said the move should not have come to anyone’s surprise. The Mississippi DOT and Federal Highway Administration both worked with counties as far back as November 2016. A plan of action was agreed upon in March, but Bryant said the counties decided not to adhere by the rules and regulations. He said if the counties decided not to do their job, then he would do it.