Taliaferro County residents appeal landfill ruling

<p>A group of Taliaferro County residents have asked a Superior Court judge in Atlanta to reverse an administrative law judge's decision to allow a landfill in the east Georgia county.</p><p>The Taliaferro Countians Against the Landfill has a right to contest the ruling, even though the state Attorney General's Office has abandoned the appeal, said Justine Thompson, a lawyer with the Georgia Center for Law in the Public Interest, which is representing the group.</p><p>In Wednesday's argument before Judge Constance Russell, Thompson argued that officials with the state Environmental Protection Division have the authority to make a decision on the permit through their review of the landfill application.</p><p>Administrative Law Judge John Gatto disagreed Oct. 4, ruling that EPD Director Carol Couch exceeded her authority in denying a permit to Complex Environmental Inc. on grounds that the 1,030-acre landfill conflicted with local solid waste management plans.</p><p>Former state Attorney General Mike Bowers, representing the company, told Russell that the EPD has never refused to issue a site suitability letter once a local government has given its assurance that a landfill proposal fits into solid waste management plans.</p><p>"This is really a very simple case, because what EPD attempted to do was contrary to what it's been doing for 30 years," Bowers said.</p><p>Taliaferro County commissioners did sign off on the request, but only after being ordered to do so by a judge and forwarding their concerns to Couch.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2865794)</p>