Lawsuit to only seek damages
LAFAYETTE — A company that filed a federal lawsuit over the City-Parish Council’s decision to block a proposed garbage transfer facility will not try to force city-parish government to allow the project to move forward, according to court filings from the company.
Attorneys for Waste Facilities of Lafayette, which was developing the garbage transfer station off Sunbeam Lane in north Lafayette, said in recent court filings the sole purpose of the litigation is to seek monetary damages, not to revive the project.
The owners of a business near the site have asked a judge to allow them to intervene in the transfer station lawsuit for fear the litigation ultimately could put the project back on track.
In a court motion opposing that request for intervention, attorneys for Waste Facilities wrote the “proposed waste transfer facility, however, is dead. … The new life applicants fear is completely unfounded, and nothing in the complaint seeks to resurrect it. Waste Facilities seeks monetary compensation for its loss.”
Waste Facilities’ lawsuit did not specifically mention the prospect of reviving the project, and the council has had no public discussions about changing course.
Opponents of the project have said they fear the council, faced with the threat of costly litigation, might consider an out-of-court settlement that would allow the transfer station to be built.
Danny and Daniel Guilliot and their family business, Star Measurement Sales and Service, have asked to intervene in the case to argue against such an outcome.
The Guilliots, whose business is next door to the site of the proposed transfer station, have been outspoken opponents to the project.
A court hearing on the Guilliots’ request to intervene in the lawsuit is set for May 30.
The Guilliots’ attorney, Max Jordan, said Monday that he could not yet comment on the status of the issue because he was still reviewing the recent court filings by Waste Facilities.
City-parish government is facing two federal lawsuits over the council’s vote last year to revoke a permit for the transfer station: one from Waste Facilities, which was developing the 16-acre site, and the other from waste hauler Progressive Waste Solutions of LA, which had planned on using the site to transfer garbage to tractor-trailers to haul out of the parish.
City-Parish Attorney Mike Hebert has estimated that damages could climb into the “millions of dollars.”
Waste Facilities had raised the threat of litigation before the council voted to block the project, and Hebert had issued a warning to the council about potential liability.
Construction had already begun at the site when the council voted to revoke the permit after residents and some business owners in the area objected to the project.