Panel member recuses self from Gregory Canyon hearing

New date, place not yet scheduled for landfill application appeal

Saying he had a conflict of interest, a county appointee recused himself from a panel that on Wednesday was scheduled to hear an appeal for an application for a permit to operate a landfill in Gregory Canyon near Pala.

Neal Mohr, one of three members of the San Diego County Solid Waste Hearing Panel, recused himself from the hearing because he is the general manager of the Sycamore Canyon, Otay, Ramona and Borrego landfills, according to an e-mail from county counsel Paul Mehnert.

Earlier this month, the county Board of Supervisors adopted an amendment to an ordinance addressing membership to the panel.

The amended ordinance says that a panel member cannot participate in a hearing about a facility that would operate in direct competition with another facility the member has a financial interest in.

The appeal, filed by attorney Walter Rusinek on behalf of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, challenged whether developer Gregory Canyon Ltd. had adequately completed an application for a operating permit for the proposed landfill.

The county Department of Environmental Health, acting in partnership with the state as the lead enforcement agency on the project, accepted the application as complete in February, but it has not yet granted an operating permit for the project. Other state and federal agencies still must grant additional permits before the landfill can be built.

Rusinek filed an appeal to the environmental health department's decision to accept the application. On Wednesday, he said he was surprised to learn that Mohr had abruptly recused himself from the panel the day for the scheduled meeting.

County counsel Rob Lorang said it is unlikely that the panel will have time to seat an alternate and hear the appeal before Saturday, the deadline for the environmental health department to make a decision, because newly approved rules for seating an alternate will not be in effect until mid-April.

Lorang said the Pala Band instead can ask California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) in Sacramento to hear the appeal.

Rusinek said he has not decided if that should be his next step, adding that he is not convinced that the county can't seat an alternate and hear the appeal in San Diego before the April 2 deadline.

"I'm considering all these options," he said.

In the appeal, Rusinek argued that Gregory Canyon Ltd.'s application did not adequately address a closure plan for the landfill or ensure that an aqueduct through the property would be protected.

The landfill is proposed for 308 acres in an undeveloped, 1,770-acre parcel near Pala. The site crosses the San Luis Rey River, and is south of Highway 76 and about three miles east of Interstate 15.

Call staff writer Gary Warth at 760-740-5410.