Attorneys for ESPN, the city of San Diego and the
Audubon Society have reached a settlement allowing the X-
Games to "proceed next week as planned," according to
Caitlin Rother in the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. While legal
documents are still being finalized, city lawyers agreed to
a "number of concessions," including paying $20,000 of the
Audubon Society's legal costs and "promising to notify" the
group of plans for large special events in "environmentally
sensitive areas." The Society had filed a lawsuit last
month regarding the "environmental review process analyzing
the event's impact on" the nesting activities of the
California least tern endangered bird. While ESPN agreed to
hire a biologist to monitor the nesting site of the bird
during construction of structures for the event, ESPN and
city officials "still contend they did the proper
environmental review." ESPN also agreed to give an
undisclosed amount of money to the city, and will produce
and broadcast a segment about the bird on its Saturday
"Outdoors" show (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 6/14).
