Nixon Threatens Lawsuit Over Boonville Bridge

Attorney General Jay Nixon threatens to sue the Blunt Adminsitration if it gives away an old railroad bridge at Boonville. Nixon says historic protection and economic development representatives in Boonville have told him the bridge is important for continued development on both sides of the Missouri River. Nixon says the Natural Resources Department’s action to let the Union Pacific Railroad remove the bridge violates the railbanking agreement that allowed the KATY Trail to be established. He says it does not appear the state is going to get adequate compensation for the bridge, either. Nixon, the state’s top legal officer, says he was not contacted by the Department of Natural Resources or by the Blunt Administration before DNR decided to let the railroad have the bridge. And he says nobody contacted the mayor of Boonville before the action was taken either. Nixon hopes for a discussion with the Natural Resources Department, but he says he’ll move to block the department’s plan if the department doesn’t take back its action.