STROUDSBURG, PA — On Tuesday, October 27, Pennsylvania State Representative Tarah Probst (189th Legislative District), acting pro se alongside co-appellant Lisa Wayland, filed an Emergency Petition for Supersedeas, also known as a stop order, with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, the state judicial body that evaluates environment-related cases. The filing aims to immediately halt construction, heavy grading and demolition activities associated with Phase 1 / Breakout Section B01 of the Interstate 80 Reconstruction Project in Stroud Township. The area is part of the Pocono region, known for its pristine waterways, stunning natural assets, and as a longtime vacation and tourism destination, according to Probst's office.

Despite pending administrative appeals challenging the validity of the state's Chapter 102 (Erosion & Sedimentation) and Chapter 105 (Water Obstruction) permits, PennDOT has aggressively pushed forward with physical demolition and site clearing, announcing in a press release that Stroud Township work would begin on Monday night and take place for the next six years. Recent actions, including construction outside the front door of Gray Chevrolet without warning or notice, and the teardown of the former Jimmy's Ice Cream structure, have permanently altered the area before the judiciary can review the legality of the permits.

"PennDOT is racing to create irreversible 'facts on the ground' before this Board can ever get a fair chance to rule on our case," said Probst. "They are tearing down our local history, ignoring active bald eagle nests along I-80, and threatening residents with compounded flood risks along Arlington Avenue and Bridge Street,” Probst explained. “PennDOT does what they want, when they want, how they want, to whoever they want, wherever they want, why ever they want, and they don’t care.”

The emergency petition highlights severe statutory and constitutional defects in the state-issued permits, including a breach of Constitutional trustee duties, violating Article I, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution (the Environmental Rights Amendment) by rubber-stamping destructive highway expansion based on stale, unverified federal data, as well as Illegal Project Segmentation, where the massive multi-million-dollar regional corridor expansion was sliced into isolated "breakout sections" to evade the mandatory preparation of a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement.

The paperwork adds that PennDOT and DEP ignored Ecological & Historical assets, including unvetted wetland loss, missing PNDI wildlife disclosures regarding protected raptor and eagle territories, and disturbing sensitive historical horizons, including the 1755–1758 Fort Hamilton battlefield footprint.

"We are not asking for anything unreasonable, we are just asking that PennDOT follow the law until the Environmental Hearing Board can hear the merits of our case," Probst added. "I will always fight for what is right, and stand up for our neighborhoods, our local waterways, and our community. Everyone deserves to be heard and respected.”

The filed paperwork can be publicly viewed at ehb.pa.gov under docket number 2026059.