USFS loses appeal in Meyers Landfill case
By Kathryn Reed
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with El Dorado County in a case brought forward by the U.S. Forest Service.
The issue is over costs related to the cleanup of the old Meyers Landfill. The county doesn’t believe it should have to pay for the cost overruns from the Forest Service’s plans for remediation at the old dump. (This April 28, 2012, LTN story has more history on the matter.)
The federal court granted the county’s motion for construction, enforcement, and modification of the partial consent decree. The Forest Service appealed. It’s that appeal that the USFS just lost.
“Where a project owner like the USFS provides detailed design plans and specifications, the government, and not the contracting party (here the county) bears the risk if such plans and specifications are ultimately determined to be deficient,” the court wrote in its January decision.
Now the matter goes back to the trial court.
“We can’t discuss the matter because litigation is ongoing,” Forest Service spokeswoman Cheva Heck said.
“Because the matter is still pending litigation I do not have any comment on the matter,” Michael Ciccozzi, attorney for El Dorado County, told Lake Tahoe News.
Forest Service? El Dorado County? It doesn’t matter, they’re spending our money fighting over who is responsible for overrruns of our money.
The clean up of the land fill off of Pioneer trail and whose going to pay for that clean up has been going on for a long time.
To my recollection, the county operated the dump but it was on USFS land, therein lies the conflict. Whose responsible?
When So. Tahoe Refuse first started up the company was named Serv U Garbage, and no I’m not making that up, that was the real name! STR just dumped trash at the landfill with there one and only small truck as they didn’t have too many customers back then.
At that time most everybody in town made a trip to the dump ever so often to get rid of their trash.
So now it all boils down to who wins in court, USFS or El Dorado County.
Heck, I hope I don’t get drawn into this, because I did dump trash there from the family house and business 50 years ago. Did I just implicate myself?
Know of a good lawyer? Old Long Skiis
Please refresh my memory, OLS, isn’t that also where Cal-Trans, for years and perhaps still trucks the snow they scrape off of Hwy 50 every winter? Along with whatever automotive products have accumulated over the off season? Sounds like there may be several players here.
So glad the county won this battle, this has been going on for a very long time. OLS you are alright the USFS already sued everyone in sight on this one, if they didn’t go after you in the first place your clear. The USFS ahould of let the county do the work in the first place, the county also wanted to rehab the land and put the wildlife center on it, but the USFS would having nothing to do with it. Their plan to fix the problem was bad since day one and people told them it was wrong, but they just took the stance we are the US government and we will do it our way. By the county winning this round it may keep the USFS from suing everyone again for their mistake.
If history is any indication this land will get a wilderness designation within the next decade
Copper,
Cal- Trans dumps the snow from Hwy 50 at the end of Sierra blvd where it is pretty well managed. By mandate of TRPA and Lahontan the snow dump was paved with drains installed.
The old dump off of pioneer trail is pretty quiet these days except for the occasional engineer/enviromental expert trying to figure out what to do to prevent more toxins leaching into the soil and the nearby creek.
I predict this will drag on for many more years as the cost of the clean up continues to mount and more deadly stuff slowly makes its way to the lake and our water supply.
Gotta put a halt to this, otherwise we are all gonna be in a world of hurt if these chemicals make it into our water supply and then to the lake.
Please come to an agreement USFS,El dorado county and fix this serious problem. Old Long Skiis
Thanks OLS; shortly after I wrote my post I had a sudden reality insight and recalled where the snow was actually dumped. Since there’s no way (as far as is known by this internet illiterate)to delete a post, I let it ride.
Since I got it wrong in the first place, I’ll accept your view that the actual snow dump site is well managed.
I have the mixed blessing of no longer living at The Lake, although I spent about 25 years there, starting in 1971, and still love the area, despite misgivings over its direction. And I don’t live very far away, so I do manage to keep an eye on y’all, albeit an increasingly aging and cynical eye.