Next Step Appears To Be Wilbros Appeal Decision

Stephens County Attorney Brian Ranck said the oral argument phase of the Wilbros’ appeal case before the Office of State Administrative Hearings is complete.

The hearing took place last Wednesday and concluded Wednesday afternoon after about three hours of arguments in front of Administrative Law Judge Ronit Walker.

Ranck said the judge had a few questions on certain narrow issues, on which she requested very short briefs from each side.

At that point, it is a matter of waiting for a decision.

There is no word on when the judge may make a decision.

However, a spokesperson for the Office of State Administrative Hearings said previously that a decision typically comes from the judge 30 days after the record in the case closes.

Judge Walker is currently considering whether to grant Wilbros’ appeal of the EPD administrative order.

That order, which the EPD issued back in January, calls on Wilbros to stop receiving waste and begin closure proceedings.

The EPD has accused the Rose Lane facility of violating the state’s Solid Waste Management and Water Quality Acts and associated permits multiple times.

Wilbros, which has been at the center of an odor controversy for years in Stephens County, disputes the EPD’s allegations in the order and calls that order to close unlawful.