- October 20, 2014 Brief of Defendant-Respondent-Petitioner City of Green Bay in Case No. 2013AP591, Oneida Seven Generations Corporation & Green Bay Renewable Energy, LLC, v. City of Green Bay
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There is no question that OSGC made the “no stacks” claim and stated that the carbon and ash would go right into “organic farming.” The fact is that OSGC always inteded there to be significant stacks and originally proposed stacks as high as 60 feet until it learned that would violate the area height restrictions.
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OSGC’s claim that the Facility’s by-product could be used in organic farming also turned out to be untrue. …The Court of Appeals did not address this misstatement.
The only possible way for the Court of Appeals to have reached the conclusions that it did given the clear and unambiguous statements made by OSGC representatives at the public hearings was by substituting its judgment for the judgment of the Common Council on the City’s real concerns and as to the weight to be given the evidence, which [the Court of Appeals] was not permitted to do.
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In its Decision, the Court of Appeals entirely ignores the possibility that the Common Council’s revocation decision was the result of the Common Council losing its trust and confidence in OSGC after, for example, its representatives repeatedly failed to provide clear and convincing answers to the City’s inquiries regarding the hazardous materials that would or would not be emitted from the Facility, the stacks that would or would not be attached to the Facility, and the byproducts produced by the Facility that could or could not be used for organic farming.
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At the end of the day, there was substantial – i.e., credible, relevant and probative – evidence presented to the City to sustain a decision by the Council to either revoke or uphold the issuance of the [Conditional Use Permit]. Given this reality, the Court of Appeals erred in weighing the evidence and substituting its judgment for that of the City’s.
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The Circuit Court expressly understood how it was to view the evidence. The Court of Appeals’ Decision, on the other hand, is in direct conflict with controlling decisions from this Court.
Oneida Seven Generations Corporation is wholly-owned by the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin.
On December 15, 2013, the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin’s supreme governing body — General Tribal Council — voted to dissolve OSGC.
- Green Bay Press Gazette: Oneida plant fight goes to state Supreme Court
Leah Dodge, a tribal member opposed to [OSGC’s incinerator] project, said she hopes members of the Supreme Court agree that [OSGC] misrepresented the environmental risks when seeking Green Bay’s approval.
“The misrepresentation is there,” Dodge said. “They have to be able to see that.”
