Lodi toxins lawsuit slowed

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Lodi toxins lawsuit slowed

By Pearson Bonnett/News-Sentinel staff writer

In an e-mail to council members Friday, City Attorney Randy Hays apparently

referred to the latest legal twist in Lodi's TCE/PCE suit as one of the city

's most disappointing days.

The city is hoping to force insurance companies of those potentially

responsible for widespread contamination to pay for its cleanup.

But a deputy state attorney general said in federal court in Sacramento on

Friday that Hays, as a city attorney, does not represent the people of

California under federal environmental law, according to court records. The

comments left several people scratching their heads.

The senior deputy attorney general, Don , could not be reached for

additional comment Monday.

Hays is at an out-of-town conference and could not be reached either. He has

tentatively set a closed session meeting Feb. 12 to discuss the details with

the City Council, according to Vice Mayor Hitchcock.

In 1997, the city signed an agreement with the state Department of Toxic

Substances Control allowing the city to assume responsibility for overseeing

the cleanup. Since then, the agencies have worked together to perform

various air and soil testing around the city.

" The state gave Randy the authority. It was part of an ordinance and release

of liability for the city, Councilman Land said Monday.

" We've already been through that battle. We've been told we have the

authority over the cleanup. It's just delay, delay, delay, " he added.

Hitchcock wasn't as emphatic.

" It sounds to me like (the court appearance) could mean great ramifications,

but I don't want to comment until I get that information from Randy, " she

said.

" Because of the seriousness of it, I don't want to say anything incorrect.

But if we have to start over from square one, that would be very, very

serious, " she added.

Lodi attorney Bowers, who attended Friday's hearing, said its outcome

would definitely have an impact on the city's case. He is representing the

Odd Fellows Hall Association which was sued by the city.

" What is absolutely clear is the federal court is questioning the city's

ability to proceed the way it has been. ('s comments) will have a

substantial impact on the city's enforcement, he added. "

Last year, Bowers filed a similar conflict of interest motion in federal

court hoping to disqualify Hays from representing both the city and the

state. That suit was denied in November.

On Friday, Hays' legal team was expected to receive an injunction order from

U.S. District Court Judge C. Damrell in a suit filed on behalf of the

people of the state as well as the city.

The order would have required Guild Cleaners - one of the 15 businesses

believed to have contributed to groundwater contamination and sued by the

city in November 2000 with hopes of forcing the multimillion-dollar cleanup

of chemicals - to potentially pay for studies and costly reports to

investigate the scale of the chemicals on the property.

's legal opinion regarding the city's representation caused Damrell

to reverse the preliminary injunction he issued in December.