Hearing reset in asphalt plant case

SAGLE — A hearing is being rescheduled on a motion to dismiss a court petition challenging the legality of conditional use permit for a controversial asphalt plant relocation proposal.

A hearing on Bonner County’s motion to dismiss the petition for review was set for Wednesday in 1st District Court, but has been reset for June 27 amid a changing cast of judges to preside over the matter, court records show.

Judge Barbara Buchanan voluntarily disqualified herself from presiding, which put the case before Judge Lansing Haynes. It was subsequently lateraled to 2nd District Judge Jay Gaskill under an Idaho Supreme Court order which reassigns some 2nd District judges to hear 1st District cases. The case was ultimately shifted to Judge Jeff Brudie, court records indicate.

Brudie, whose chambers are in Lewiston, will preside over the July 27 hearing via telephone.

The county is moving to dismiss the petition filed by Citizens Against Linscott/Interstate Asphalt Plant on grounds that a deadline to file the action had lapsed. Counsel for the citizens group counter that their original filing was mishandled while being processed in iCourt, the online courts database utilized by Bonner and other Idaho counties.

“Citizens encountered an error on the part of the iCourt system and/or court clerk’s office that prevented their initial filing from being accepted by the iCourt system,” Boise attorney Jack Relf said in a brief opposing the county’s motion to dismiss.

Bonner County commissioners upheld the conditional use permit in March, which allows Interstate Concrete & Asphalt to relocate its asphalt plant in Sandpoint to Frank Linscott’s surface mine on the west side of U.S. Highway 95 north of Monarch Road. The approval came despite overwhelming objections from neighboring and nearby residents who argue the project will soil their rural neighborhoods with pollution, noise and traffic. They further contend that the gravel pit and the asphalt plant pose a threat to the Sagle Aquifer, which the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality describes as a primary drinking water source for the area.

Sagle resident Wheeler Summerhill appealed to commissioners on Tuesday to rescind their approval. Summerhill said petroleum-based asphalt plants emit four types of toxins — benzene, ethyl benzine, toluene and xylene.

“The first two are cancerous and the second two affect your liver, kidneys and lungs,” Summerhill said.

Summerhill also voiced concern for the toxins’ potential to foul the aquifer.

“Once it gets into the aquifer, there’s not much you can do,” Summerhill said.

Commissioners did not comment on Summerhill’s remarks.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.