|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
January 27, 2005Groups may stay in Tondu lawsuitJudge: They have substantial interest in caseByRecord-Eagle staff writer MANISTEE - A federal judge upheld the right of two citizens groups to intervene in a lawsuit opposing a proposed coal-fired power plant on the shore of Manistee lake. Members of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and Manistee Citizens for Responsible Development have a substantial interest in the case, U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen said in a ruling released Tuesday. Manistee Salt Works Development Corp., an arm of Tondu Corp., sued the City of Manistee for $810 million after it denied a special-use permit for a coal-fired power plant on Manistee Lake at the site of a retired salt plant. Enslen's ruling upheld an earlier ruling by U.S. Magistrate Ellen S. Carmody. In the eight-page decision, Enslen said the citizen groups' legal rights would not be adequately protected if the city was the sole defendant in the case, because of the "City of Manistee's past reliance on these defendants as a source of information and given the limited resources of the city to defend the suit." Enslen also upheld Carmody's decision to reject a request from the Sierra Club to join the suit, saying the group is less directly connected to the Manistee area and that the environmental group's interest could be protected by attorneys for the citizens groups. Although the Sierra Club cannot participate as a defendant, it can take an amicus curiae, or friend of the court role, Enslen said. T.J. Andrews, attorney for Manistee Citizens, said she is pleased with the decision. "We're in because, as the judge said, we have a significant interest," Andrews said. Roger L. Myers, attorney for Manistee Salt Works, could not be reached for comment.
|
|
