NEWS

Oneida fights suit over waste-to-energy plant

Scott Cooper Williams
Press-Gazette Media

The Oneida Tribe of Indians is asking a Chicago judge to throw out a lawsuit that seeks nearly $400 million from the tribe and related parties in a stalled waste-to-energy venture.

The suit was filed in March by Generation Clean Fuels LLC, a firm that agreed to lease equipment and become a partner in a trash-recycling plant proposed in Green Bay by the tribe-owned Oneida Seven Generations Corp.

The project fizzled after Green Bay city officials withdrew a needed permit — an action that remains the subject of a separate court battle.

In the Chicago suit, Oneida attorneys argue that neither the tribe nor Oneida Seven Generations was a party to contractual agreements with Generation Clean Fuels under the waste-to-energy endeavor.

The contracts were signed by the tribal affiliate Green Bay Renewable Energy LLC before Oneida leaders were even aware, attorneys wrote.

“The tribe’s Business Committee — which is delegated governing authority of the tribe — had no knowledge of, and did not even see the agreements, until well after they were executed,” according to a brief filed in the case.

No hearing date has been set on the tribe’s motion to dismiss.

Generation Clean Fuels attorney Gerald Dombrowski issued a statement that the former waste-to-energy business partner would respond to the motion in court.

“We continue to believe that we have a very solid case against the tribe and its entities,” Dombrowski said.

Oneida Seven Generations wants to build a waste-to-energy plant at 1230 Hurlbut St. in Green Bay to process common household trash at high temperatures, in a process known as gasification or pyrolysis. Supporters applaud the concept as an environmentally friendly energy alternative, while critics say it would pollute the community and risk other health hazards.

After initially approving the development, Green Bay aldermen revoked the permit in October 2012 based on concerns that the developer had understated the emissions and environmental problems.

The suit is pending in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago.

Based near Chicago, Generation Clean Fuels and its affiliated companies say that their contracts would have been worth millions of dollars under the business venture. The suit seeks $397 million from the Oneida tribe, Oneida Seven Generations and Green Bay Renewable Energy.

In its response to the suit, the tribe also argues that general principles of corporate law do not apply to the Oneidas as a sovereign Indian nation, and that the case should not be filed in Illinois because the business venture was in Wisconsin.

— swilliams@pressgazettemedia.com and follow him on Twitter @pgscottwilliams.