Below is a message from the Stop the Mega-Dump attorney. We will be going forward with the appeal as he outlines below. We will need additional funds to cover this process. Please send a contribution to:
Stop the Mega-Dump
P.O. Box 363
DeKalb IL 60115
Also watch for upcoming dates for a get together and for a public meeting in Cortland. This fight is not over. We need all of you to stay involved. It took Kane county over 4 years to send WMI packing and Kendall county fought them for 6 years. The people of DeKalb County will win this struggle too.
Thanks,
Dan Kenney
Chair of Stop the Mega-Dump
From our Attorney:
Group,
The PCB decision in this case was unexpected and frankly wrong. The PCB has recently been viewed by many as a rubber stamp for local siting decisions, but it also had a history of protecting the public’s right to meaningfully participate and the integrity of the process. That is apparently no longer the case. Fortunately the Second District Appellate Court offers an opportunity to redress this wrong. In the past this Court has not hesitated in correcting wrongs and errors perpetrated by the Pollution Control Board.
A review of the 74 page decision of the PCB reveals that it is shockingly devoid of real analysis. Almost all of the decision is a detailed recitation of the arguments of the parties. The little analysis that does occur is conclusory and not well grounded in established law. This decision is a major step backward in that the PCB disregarded and seemingly overruled well established precedents regarding fundamental fairness. The holding that private contacts between the local decision makers and the applicant are not “ex parte” contacts simply because they occur before a siting application is filed is particularly disturbing, because there is no basis in law or logic for such a distinction. Equally disturbing is the fact that the PCB disregarded the county siting ordinance’s prohibition on participation by almost all members of the public simply because the hearing officer decided to ignore this prohibition.
On the substantive siting criteria, the PCB failed to critically review the evidence, particularly on safety issues, and instead simply deferred to the county decision. This violates the directive of the Supreme Court that the technically qualified PCB review the evidence as it conducts its hearing.
Thankfully we have the opportunity to appeal. This appeal will be directly to the Appellate Court in Elgin. We need to file our petition for review within 35 days after the PCB decision. Unlike the just finished appeal to the PCB, the Appellate Court will not receive new evidence or additional public comment. This appeal will be based solely on the record already created, so there is no further opportunity for public participation. Instead, the attorneys for the parties will file briefs with the Court, and the Court will then hear oral argument on the briefs. The PCB itself will be a respondent in this appeal. The entire process should take about one year. During that time WMII can not go forward with the expansion.
I remain optimistic about our prospects. We lost a battle, but the war is far from over. The requirement for fundamental fairness and full, meaningful public participation will prevail.
George Mueller
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