By Norm Sweeney
This newspaper reported on Dec. 13 that the district court ruled against the Humboldt Board of County Commission in the commissioners' effort to block the extension of a conditional use permit for the proposed Jungo landfill. This should not be a surprise to anyone, as the commissioners' own district attorney told them that the plaintiff, local attorney Bob Dolan, had no standing in the case.
So, when I heard late last week that Jungo asked to recover attorneys' fees from Humboldt County, I was not surprised. Our commissioners have been unnecessarily hostile to Recology and the Jungo landfill project. Recology has made every good-faith effort to address our community's concerns, working with NDEP to modify the plans for the landfill. Instead of working WITH a company that wants to bring new jobs and new revenues to our county, the commissioners have blocked the project and have given the county a reputation of being unfriendly to business.
Remember, at the Dec. 20, 2010, meeting of the county commission, Recology proposed a settlement agreement to end all the controversy. The agreement was negotiated with the help of a federal judge, and the commissioners' own insurance attorney said he agreed with the judge that it was in the best interest of both Recology and the county to settle. The settlement was simple: if the county would extend the Conditional Use Permit it previously approved, Recology would drop their suit; pay for a consultant to evaluate the NDEP application for the county; pay for more consultants to evaluate and ensure the compliance of the permit; delete asbestos and treated sludge from the waste stream and negotiate a host agreement that would yield host fees to the county. Again, against the legal advice that we taxpayers paid for, the commissioners rejected this settlement offer.
What did the commissioners expect would happen? Is anyone surprised that Recology would like to be reimbursed for all the money they have spent because the commissioners would not listen to their own lawyers?
When NDEP held an open meeting in Winnemucca on Dec. 1 to take public comment about the operating permit for the landfill, I commented that, as a community, we should trust NDEP to do their job in overseeing the design and operation of the landfill. We trust them with our well being every day as they regulate the mining operations in our county. Why can't we trust them to monitor the proposed landfill?
At the Dec. 12 special meeting of the county commission, when the commissioners accepted the report of a consultant the county paid to review the Jungo operating permit, I asked them to stop wasting taxpayer money. It's time for the commissioners to let NDEP do its job. It's time to acknowledge that Jungo is following the rules set by the state and by our county. It's time to stop wasting time and the taxpayers' money. It's time to go forward with the landfill project.
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