A special hearing Thursday about the proposed route for the Westside Subway Extension was dominated by science, with geologists and engineers pointing to maps and the existence -- or lack thereof -- of earthquake faults and decrying the way Los Angeles County transportation researchers have gone about their work.

But even amid the talk of boring samples and surface integrity, the message from Beverly Hills to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority was clear: Proceed as planned and tunnel underneath Beverly Hills High School for the subway extension and you will get sued.

"Clearly, if we don't get a fair hearing and have our science [taken] into consideration, then we're going to have no choice," said Brian Goldberg, president of the Beverly Hills Unified School District board. "We believe there's alternatives that have not been fully explored yet."

County transportation officials certified environmental documents for the entire $5.6-billion project last month. The plan calls for construction of nine miles of rail that will mostly run underneath Wilshire Boulevard.

But officials could only formally approve the first 3.9 miles of the project because Beverly Hills city officials requested a hearing regarding a small portion of the line that would run underneath Beverly Hills High School.