For More Info Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Update Info on Washoe County's plight with Oil Dri Kitty Litter plant. I will be at De Anza pow wow this weekend to distribute information, even if I have to hoof it without a table.
Melanie Tribe, enviros try to join Reno suit over cat litter maker RENO, Nev. (AP) Tribal leaders and environmentalists asked a federal judge to let them intervene in the Oil-Dri Corp.'s lawsuit seeking damages from Washoe County for denying a permit to build a cat litter mine and processing plant on the edge of Reno. "We are fulfilling our promise to intervene on behalf of the county," Great Basin Mine Watch Director Tom Myers told the Sparks Tribune Tuesday. Oil-Dri, the largest maker of cat litter in the world, filed suit in U.S. District Court in April against Washoe County, claiming the county's decision was arbitrary, capricious, unlawful and not supported by substantial evidence. The suit does not seek to overturn the county's denial, rather it seeks recovery of unspecificed expenses related to locating the facility in Washoe County. Oil-Dri Vice President Bob Vetere said Tuesday that the environmental group and the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony near where the mine is planned might have a legal right to intervene if the company was asking to overturn the county's decision. "But I don't think they are a party to this. All we are looking for are damages for the costs we incurred," Vetere told The Associated Press. "I'd be surprised if the judge allows them to be an intervener. But whether they intervene or not, I don't think it makes a difference. In the court, no emotions will be involved. The facts will speak," he said. Vetere said Oil-Dri spent at least $3.5 million on the various studies and permits required to get approval for the facility. Many parts of the expenses will be transferable to a new plan, so the suit is only seeking recovery of those expenses related to county approval and those calculations still are under way, he said. Oil-Dri wants to operate open-pit mines on 340 acres out of the 5,800-acres of claims it holds on public land in Hungry Valley. According to Oil-Dri, the perfect clay for its product can be found only in Hungry Valley. But the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, which has homes in Hungry Valley and Citizens for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods, are critical of the potential noise, night lighting, traffic safety concerns, sulfur dioxide emissions and dust from the operation. Vetere maintains county denial of the special use permit is in direct violation of Oil-Dri's rights under the 1872 Mining Law. He said all the appropriate state and county agencies checked off on the plans before the county commission rejected it. But Myers said the 130-year-old federal mining law is increasingly being challenged and this case could open up the law for review. "This will be a precedent-setting case in determining how the 1872 Mining Law is interpreted throughout the country," Myers said. "We think this case is the judicial demise of the mining law," Myers said, adding that the court will decide if he and the colony can join the lawsuit. To allow intervention in the case, the court must find that intervention to be timely, that the interveners have an interest in the case, that the outcome could injure those interests without intervention and that the county may not adequately represent those interests, Myers said. "The county has to balance the interest of the whole county, but we represent the interest of the neighbors of the proposed mine," he said. Although Oil-Dri is only seeking monetary damages, the court would still have to rule that the county did not have the legal authority to deny the project under the mining law, Myers said. -- Andr� Cramblit: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Operations Director Northern California Indian Development Council NCIDC (http://www.ncidc.org) is a non-profit that meets the development needs of American Indians and operates an art gallery featuring the art of California tribes (http://www.americanindianonline.com) Visit and show your support for the Grass Roots Oyate http://members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate Clemency for Leonard Peltier. Sign the Petition. http://petitiononline.com/Release/petition.html ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1ddNB.b2HgmN Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
