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12/27/2006Judge rejects WRS accordRuling clouds resolution of lawsuit against firmTRAVERSE CITY — A judge rejected a proposed consent judgment between the state and Williamsburg Receiving and Storage to resolve long-standing environmental troubles at the cherry processing plant, clouding how the state will resolve its lawsuit with WRS. Circuit Judge Thomas Power on Tuesday refused to approve a 38-page agreement intended to resolve a lawsuit the state filed in February. Power said he feared the agreement would generate more legal wrangling and would not rectify environmental problems at the site north of M-72 in Grand Traverse County's Whitewater Township. "I'm afraid of this judgement being an invitation to endless litigation,” Power said. "I think I should only do this if it's effective and is going to accomplish something.” Assistant state Attorney General Alan Hoffman, who helped negotiate the agreement, argued the order would start in motion a series of deadlines that WRS officials would have to meet for various remediation plans involving site cleanup work. Those included a closure plan for a now-empty wastewater lagoon, odor control and air emission plans, plus a management plan for handling future wastewater generated at the site. "We would like to get that consent judgment entered so we will have a bigger (enforcement) hammer,” Hoffman said. Joseph Quandt, an attorney for WRS, concurred with the state's position. "The plans themselves are pretty much ready,” Quandt said. "Most of those issues have already been resolved.” But Power said those cleanup plans should have been included in the order, and noted that a 2002 consent agreement between WRS and the state Department of Environmental Quality failed to resolve pollution problems. "There's no specifics on what WRS is required to do to resolve these claimed problems,” Power said. "This judgment doesn't accomplish much at the price of a lot of court involvement.” Neighbors who intervened in the state's lawsuit opposed the consent order. The neighbors group and the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council are parties to the lawsuit, and their attorney, Christopher Bzdok, said he doubted it would be any more effective than the 2002 agreement. He also said the judgment could be used by WRS attorneys to dismiss neighbors' private claims when their case comes to trial in February. "Who are we protecting by sweeping the neighbors' concerns right out the door?” Bzdok said. Hoffman said he was unsure of the state's next move, but would immediately appeal Power's decision. "I'm not sure what we're going to do, but we're very disappointed the consent judgment didn't get filed today,” he said. See related stories:
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