State officials and environmental advocates filed lawsuits today to stop the expansion of a toll road in Orange County, an expansion that would cut through San Onfore State Beach.

Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced the lawsuit at a news conference this morning here in Sacramento. The lawsuit alleges that in trying to extend the 241 toll road, the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) violated the landmark California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

You can read more about it here.

Lockyer told reporters that the violations include TCA's lack of identifying possible mitigation measures, including the widening of nearby Interstate 5, rather than build the road in its currently designated location. And he said local officials "manipulated" the evidence in order to get the road where they wanted it.

The AG's action was joined by lawsuits from the Natural Resources Defense Council, the California Parks Foundation, the Sierra Club, the Surfrider Foundation, and the Native American Heritage Commission.

The park, home to the internationally known surfing destination Trestles, was created in 1971 through efforts from both former President Richard Nixon and then Governor Ronald Reagan.

"I'm now defending the legacy of Dick Nixon and Ronald Reagan," joked Lockyer.

Meantime, a statement from the TCA disputes the allegations and calls the lawsuits another "delay tactic that avoids dealing with the number one issue facing southern California today-- traffic congestion."