Opponents Of Landfill Go Straight To The Top

Opponents of a landfill in Adams County have asked the state Supreme Court to block the project, contending county commissioners violated the state open meetings act in approving it.

The appeal from the Organization to Protect Agricultural Lands asks the high court to overturn a Whitman County Superior Court decision. Judge Wallis Friel found last year that commissioners did not violate open meetings laws and appearance of fairness rules when they granted Waste Management a permit for a regional landfill.

The organization bypassed the state Court of Appeals and went straight to the Supreme Court because “we need to set straight all of the county governments as to the unacceptability of conducting county business as it was done here,” attorney Michael Gendler said.

OPAL contended that private meetings between Waste Management officials and County Commissioners Bill Wills and Bill Schlagel violated state law. The group also questioned 20 hours of long-distance telephone calls between company officials and the two commissioners.