Wednesday's Internet Edition, March 10, 2010.
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In a special session of the Kleberg County Commissioners Court held Thursday, the county judge was directed by commissioners to contact URI and demand the uranium mining company return to the mediation table within 10 days or face a lawsuit.
De La Garza said he has contacted attorney Jep Hill, who represents URI, to complete the mediation process, but the judge was told 10 days is too soon to notify all of the parties.
“I told him (Jep Hill) that it was too late — he had 10 days or else the lawsuit will be filed,” the judge said.
“I still want to give the mediation process a chance to work,” he said.
An abbreviated mediation session was conducted in April between URI and the county, but both sides agreed to return with their “experts” to negotiate some of the technical issues.
De La Garza said the session was cut short when a representative of the county’s attorney in the dispute, Rick Lowerre, had to leave the mediation early, concluding little was to be gained by further mediation.
“The mediator disagreed and felt enough time had not been devoted to the process,” De La Garza said.
The county judge conceded in a meeting Aug. 13 there seemed to be little progress on the part of attorneys representing the county to get URI to return to mediation and perhaps an executive session with the attorney was needed to resolve the matter.
The commissioners court held an executive session Wednesday, and met again Thursday before directing the county judge to contact URI representatives.
Precinct 4 County Commissioner Romeo Lomas said he was approached by Kleberg County Attorney Alfred Isassi Wednesday and informed that Lowerre’s firm had prepared the necessary paperwork, including a check for the fees to file the lawsuit against URI back on April 3, the first mediation session.
Lomas said Isassi told him the county judge told the law firm not to file the lawsuit until further notice from the county judge.
Lomas feels De La Garza mislead the commissioners court and Kleberg taxpayers when he had knowledge that the lawsuit along with the proper filing fees were ready to be filed in district court.
De La Garza stands by his decision to hold off on the lawsuit until all mediation efforts are exhausted.
The county judge, in turn, has been critical of Lomas and the STOP organization for demanding that a lawsuit be filed without considering all of the consequences.
The STOP organization maintains that URI is contaminating the water table with its continued solution mining for uranium ore southeast of Kingsville.
URI says it is operating under requirement set forth by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and is not contaminating the groundwater.
The county and URI signed a separate agreement three years ago that called for complete restoration of previously mined areas before moving into new areas.
County oversight committee formed to monitor URI as part of that agreement concluded that URI is not living up to all of the agreement’s provisions, including total restoration.
URI decided to resume mining despite the lack of resolution of the contract dispute.
Judge De La Garza said that URI is continuing its restoration process as it mines new areas, but he is still pushing for long-term monitoring of the area even after URI leaves.
“That’s something they are fighting,” the judge said.
He said the TCEQ has even granted a less stringent restoration standard for URI, but it does not absolve URI of living up to its agreement with Kleberg County.