Oneida plant fight goes to state Supreme Court

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to examine the city of Green Bay's dispute with an Oneida Tribe of Indians company over a proposed waste-to-energy plant development.

The Supreme Court will consider whether the city appropriately revoked a permit for the gasification plant that Oneida Seven Generations Corp. wants to build at 1230 Hurlbut St. on the city's west side.

A Brown County judge ruled in the city's favor, but a state appeals court later found that the city had overstepped its authority in moving to halt the development.

Assistant City Attorney Jim Mueller said he thinks the Supreme Court may possibly render a decision by next spring or summer, although no hearing has been scheduled yet. Mueller declined to comment further.

Representatives of the Oneida tribe and Oneida Seven Generations also declined to discuss the case.

Oneida Seven Generations, a company created be the tribe for economic development, won city approval in March 2011 to build the gasification plant. The company planned to convert tons of common household trash into a new source of electrical energy, in a process also known as pyrolysis.

But while advocates cheered the concept as a source of renewable energy and a way to ease landfill dumping, critics likened it to a trash incinerator that would create pollution and environmental hazards.

After repeated protests from neighbors and environmentalists, the Green Bay City Council voted in October 2012 to revoke the project's permit, based on allegations that the developer had understated the emissions and the threats of pollution.

Oneida Seven Generations responded by taking the city to court.

Oneida tribal members opposed to the gasification development later voted to dissolve Oneida Seven Generations. The company has not been dissolved, however, and it remains unclear what would happen with the company if the Supreme Court revived the project.

Leah Dodge, a tribal member opposed to the waste-to-energy project, said she hopes members of the Supreme Court agree that the developer misrepresented the environmental risks when seeking Green Bay's approval.

"The misrepresentation is there," Dodge said. "They have to be able to see that."

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