From the inbox:
After several postponements, the Contested Case Hearing on the proposed Pintail Landfill permit has been set for November 2, 2015, in Austin.
Assuming no further delays, the case will be heard by two Administrative Law Judges with the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH). The trial is expected to take about two weeks. This proceeding to determine the facts is the last step before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Commissioners make their final decision on the Pintail Landfill permit application.
The proposed landfill permit was not stopped by last December’s trial in Waller County.
The December trial was necessary to clarify whether former County officials acted legally in adopting, first, an amended version of the County’s 2011 landfill location control ordinance and, second, a Host Agreement. A jury of Waller County citizens decided that those officials did violate the Texas Open Meetings Act and the Texas Public Information Act.
The issuance of the TCEQ landfill permit remains to be decided. The application was referred to SOAH for a determination of the facts through a “trial” called a Contested Case Hearing (CCH). Such hearings include depositions, affidavits, expert testimony, and cross-examination relative to the many disputed issues in the application.
After the evidence is heard, the SOAH Judges will issue a “Recommendation for Decision” to the Commissioners of the TCEQ.
Along with Waller County, the City of Hempstead and several other Parties, Citizens Against the Landfill in Hempstead (CALH) is preparing for the CCH.
For over four years now, the landfill has been fought to a standstill and the Applicant still does not have a permit. Neither does it own the property.
Up against the big money of Green Group Holdings and their financial backers, CALH has had to budget tightly and fund every dollar with donations and fundraisers. If you are not aware, CALH has held 26 garage sales so far, each averaging about $10,000. These sales are so well stocked by wonderful donations and so popular with shoppers that we have had to rename the event ‘more than a’ Garage Sale. In addition, we have held annual dinner/auction fundraisers called ‘We Stand United’ in both 2013 and 2014, where tickets were sold out prior to the event and proceeds exceeded $100,000 each.
To date, most of the preparation work for the CCH has been done and paid for from donations, fundraisers and settlement funds from the December trial. However, it is estimated that another $300,000 will be needed by CALH to cover the remaining expenses of the upcoming CCH battle. Without lawyers to finish preparing for the case and to try it before the SOAH Judges, the fight could be lost.
This is why CALH is preparing to host ‘We Stand United 3’ on Saturday, July 25, 2015, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Hempstead, Texas. All committees are working feverishly to make this event as successful as its predecessors. The community is coming together as always with donations, table sponsorships and ticket sales. If you would like to see a community working together in a positive, united way, we invite you to attend this event on July 25. Please see the flyer attached for details. We also invite you to visit our website and Facebook page to learn more about our organization and its activities.
Please contact us at [email protected] for further information.
See here and here for previous upadates, and here for more on the July 25 fundraiser. I have been a supporter of this effort to keep the landfill out, and I continue to wish CALH well. I had been a little concerned that the legislation passed this session to restrict contested case hearings might stack the odds against them, but I have been assured that it will not affect theirs. It’s still a concern going forward for others, but that’s a subject for the future. Regardless, I’ll be following it and will check for updates in November.