Longshore Union challenging new Seattle NBA arena plan

The Longshore Union has announced its intent to file a legal challenge to the proposed basketball arena in the industrial area south of downtown Seattle.

Local 19 said Friday that details will be announced Monday for a lawsuit in King County Superior Court. The lawsuit will oppose the approvals granted by the Seattle and King County councils to a memorandum of understanding with Chris Hansen for a $490 million arena.

The union says the memo is itself a proposal that fixes the arena site and should have been submitted to the environmental review process.

The union says building another sports venue in the Sodo area will erode maritime, manufacturing and warehousing businesses and threaten the livelihood of union and other workers.