Feds Want NJ To Pay Back Money For Tunnel Project

TRENTON (CBS) - Uncle Sam wants his money back from New Jersey. More than a quarter billion dollars for that rail tunnel between Newark and Manhattan that Governor Chris Christie called too expensive and killed last month.

The feds are demanding at least $271-million in refunds for the now cancelled ARC tunnel. New Jersey Transit spokesman Paul Wyckoff says the interest and penalties have yet to be calculated:

"We received the Federal Transit Administration's request for repayment on Monday, which was the 8th. Right now we're reviewing the request."

The state is also assessing it's options. Wyckoff won't get specific, but he says the state does not necessarily agree that the dispute is as clear as the FTA letter might suggest. In all, Washington had pledged $350-million to the project. The remaining $79-million is now, according to the letter, "de-obligated."

Reported by David Madden, KYW Newsradio