Gas Works fireworks on despite lawsuit

SEATTLE fireworks fans get a mild reprieve: The only show in town is no longer under threat of injunction. The show goes on Saturday night at Gas Works Park as planned.

That's the good news for a citizenry that has had a rough year and needs some unbridled fun on July Fourth. An environmental activist filing a lawsuit ran out of time to seek an injunction to stop this year's display.

The bad news is Benjamin Schroeter's time — consuming, expensive lawsuit will proceed in advance of next year's fireworks show, when an injunction is possible. Schroeter says the city failed to conduct an environmental assessment in accordance with the State Environmental Policy Act. The city says the once-a-year community show is exempt.

Schroeter has a right to his day in court. But if his point is taken to its illogical conclusion, the city might need an environmental assessment every time the park faces considerable use — Father's Day, for example. How absurd.

The Gas Works show is the big fireworks show in Seattle this year because Ivar Haglund et al ran out of clams for the waterfront extravaganza.

Schroeter worries so many people flocking to Gas Works, combined with heavy equipment on the grass at the park, could disturb the soil cap that keeps old contaminants buried below.

The lawsuit smacks of the typical Seattle political correctness that says lawsuit, lawsuit every time an individual fears an event might disrupt daily life but doesn't really hurt anyone or anything.

Gas Works Park is the site of an old coal-to-gas plant. The area was covered with a cap of topsoil years ago. The city monitors holes and leaks and patches them regularly.

The park has gone through many reviews. What kind of city do we want to be? Probably not one that requires environmental assessment every time people gather at a beloved park.