Legal Efforts

CANSS attorney, Norman M. Semanko, of Parsons Behle, and Latimer law firm, joined us in 2017. Norm recognized as an “Idaho Leader in Law” by the Idaho Business Review in 2016 for his work, brings to our team extensive experience with water resources, environmental, natural resources, public lands, and regulatory issues.

Norm Semanko in collaboration with the Board of CANSS are working hard to ‘Stop the Smelter’.  From the beginning, Norm made it clear this battle is to be won in the judicial system.

CANSS defined mission is to stop the silicon smelter. We will do everything legally within our means to accomplish this. Through the generosity of donations, we have retained Norm Semanko for legal counsel. He’s specified the number one  battle is the re-zoning issue from the beginning and it’s still our focus. That is why the Pend Oreille County Comprehensive Plan is so important

Norm Semanko and the citizens have successfully and repeatedly beaten back PacWest’s efforts to move forward with the smelter for the past 3+ years. PacWest has NOT applied for nor been approved for the multitude of permits required to conduct such an operation.

CANSS and the citizens stand ready with our attorney, Norm Semanko, to meet the challenge – anytime, anywhere, you can count on that! Remember, slow and steady wins the race; we’re in this for the long haul!

Stay strong everyone!    No Newport Smelter!!

Remember that we need your donations to continue to move forward in our legal efforts.

Stay Updated on our legal efforts by reviewing the documents below.

According to PacWest’s original timeline, they should have had the smelter built and fully operational by now. Through the dedication of the citizens, Norm Semanko, and as a result of the legal efforts by CANSS and others we continue to beat back the development of this smelter at every turn.

We’ve made all the legal documents available in full below.

Land Appeal – Petition for Review Filed

Recently, the Petition for Review with the Washington Supreme Court was filed by the Gonzaga law team, Rick Eichstaedt, and Norm Semanko requesting the court to hear our appeal of their last ruling on the land sale from PUD to PacWest. The answer may take anywhere from 2 months up ...
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Court of Appeals Grants Publish Request

On July 2, an important hurdle has been cleared in our legal battle against the smelter! The Court of Appeals granted our request to officially publish its opinion, starting the 30-day clock for filing our next appeal. We will be working diligently with our partners and legal team to prepare ...
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Motion Request to Publish Decision

Our Legal Team filed a motion requesting the Washington Court of Appeals to publish their April 21, 2020 decision upholding the sale from PUD to PacWest even after strong arguments were made that the land purchase was illegal. A published decision will increase the chance that the Court will review ...
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Land Appeal Decision

The Court of Appeals recently upheld the sale to PacWest over strong arguments made by CANSS and other parties that the purchase by PacWest was illegal. This decision only strengthens our determination to oppose the smelter.  ...
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PUD’s request for summary judgement

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RG*NEW’s response to request for summary judgement

Defendant HiTest Sand, Inc. (“HiTest”) moves this Court for summary judgment arguing that this Court cannot invalidate the land transactions at issue in this proceeding because it is a “bona fide purchaser” of the property. However, the Public Utility District’s (“PUD”) purchase and sale of land cannot be deemed mere ...
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Land Sale Appeal Brief

The following is our appeal of the land sale filed along with Responsible Growth NE. Use the arrows to click through the entire body of the brief. The case addresses the question: May a public utility district in Washington State buy and sell land in a manner inconsistent with the ...
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Public Hearing about deletion of Public Lands Category

The Pend Orielle County Commissioners will be holding a public hearing on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at the Newport High School Gymnasium. The commissioners would like to remove the "Public" land category county wide. The County Planning Commission has already determined that they would not like for this proposal to ...
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Notice of Appeal of Lawsuit

The below is a notice of our appeal granting the Pend Orielle PUD's Motion for Summary Judgement. You can use the arrows to rotate through the entire pdf ...
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Judges Ruling

The Judge’s ruling on our Summary Judgement was NOT in our favor; however we want to bring out some very positive aspects.1. The Judge found that CANSS & RG*NEW along with the Citizens had standing to bring this case and hold the PUD accountable.2. The Judge found that the PUD ...
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Original Summary Judgement Request

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Pend Orielle County’s reply to request for summary judgement

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