NEWPORT — A judge has been appointed to begin hearing arguments in a lawsuit which seeks to void the sale of public property purchased by PacWest Silicon, according to counsel for the Citizens Against the Newport Smelter.

Norm Semanko suggested during a CANSS rally on Wednesday that the suit against the Pend Oreille Public Utility District could be decided before going to trial based on meeting agendas, minutes, emails and memos.

“There really isn’t a debate here about the facts. The documents speak for themselves,” Semanko said during the rally, which preceded the Washington Department of Ecology’s scoping hearing for the proposed smelter’s environmental impact statement.

CANSS argues that the PUD’s sale of the property was illegal because it did not fall within the scope of generating and delivering energy as required by Washington state law. Moreover, the district did not receive authorization by a vote from three-fifths of its constituents within the district to divest the lands for sale. The group further argues that bundled up by Pend Oreille County for sale to the PUD was illegal as well.

“We think it’s going to be very clear to the judge,” Semanko said.

CANSS is also gearing up to oppose a land use code amendment that is expected to reclassify property with a public lands designation as rural ground in an apparent attempt to facilitate the smelter, according to Semanko. The group intends to argue Commissioner Steve Kiss should recuse himself from the code amendment deliberations because he owns property which would be affected by it, Semanko said.

Even if the code change goes through, Semanko said it will appealed to the state of Washington’s Growth Management Board.

CANSS called on Ecology to halt the State Environmental Policy Act process due to insufficient information and a lack of an application filed by PacWest. Ecology countered that it had enough information to begin the SEPA proceedings, however.

“We are preparing the complaint and we will file a complaint against the Department of Ecology to stop the SEPA process,” said Semanko.

CANSS is also raising objections to a published report that PacWest plans to claim two exemptions — domestic and industrial — to the state’s groundwater permitting requirements.

“That is directly contrary to supreme court precedent in the state of Washington. It’s directly contrary to the statute and it’s directly contrary to Ecology’s own website,” said Semanko.

Semanko concluded his remarks by suggesting that smelter proponents believed they could site the facility in northeastern Washington because it would be the path of least resistance

“Boy were they wrong,” he said.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.