By Gary Nelson / gnelson@crossville-chronicle.com
Ronald Thurman, presiding chancellor of the Chancery Court of Cumberland County, dismissed a lawsuit Friday that was filed against Cumberland County over a resolution the county passed in June to allow fly ash to be trucked into the county in order to reclaim a mine on top of Smith Mountain.
The hearing was held in Putnam County Nov. 20 where Chancellor Thurman's office is located.
Sixteen residents and property owners on Smith Mountain and one business owner filed a lawsuit in August against Cumberland County, the Cumberland County Commission and Smith Mountain Solutions, LLC.
The suit sought a judicial review by writ of statutory certiorari by Thurman regarding resolution 0609-12 adopted June 15, 2009 by the Cumberland County Commission and/or Cumberland County. The resolution allowed Smith Mountain Solutions, LLC to construct a coal ash landfill.
According to the suit, "...the petition for review of the landfill approval falls within the area of interest protected by (Tennessee Code Annotated TCA) 68-211-703 and 704. Each petitioner has a recreational, aesthetic, health and direct property interest in the immediate vicinity of the landfill and in the vicinity of Smith Mountain Road where the trucks for the landfill will travel on a daily basis."
Those who filed the suit include Dave Brundage, Black Cat Lodge, LLC, John Coye, Barbara Coye, David Cobb, Sonja Cobb, Michael Lollar, Sherry Lollar, Larry Oran, Mary Oran, Troy Melton, Sandy Melton, Louse Devillon, Joan Devillon, Vincent R. Jozwiak, Carolyn W. Jozwiak, Phillip Miller and Patty Miller.
As of press time, Cumberland County Attorney, Randall Boston, Cumberland County Mayor Brock Hill and Elizabeth L. Murphy, an attorney from Nashville who filed the suit, were not available for comment.
Before any landfill can be constructed, any plans or proposals have to be approved by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). Smith Mountain Solutions was denied the permit by rule procedure for the project in July and is required by TDEC to resubmit the request as a Class II landfill application. That application has not yet been filed.
