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Citizens Against the Newport Silicon Smelter

Protecting the Future of Our Community

Legal Efforts

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

Norm Semanko, CANSS, and the citizens are working hard to Stop the Smelter. The Land Appeal decision, our latest effort, was not in our favor. This decision only strengthened our determination to oppose the smelter. From the beginning, Norm made it clear this battle is to be won in the judicial system as seen in our legal efforts outlined below.

The threat of the smelter has not been abandoned. PacWest, a patient landowner, is waiting for the approval and finalization of the Pend Oreille County Comprehensive Plan Rewrite. This rewrite is vitally important not only to them but to every landowner in the County, who should be aware of the future land use maps and the proposed zoning changes. The draft is available for review at the Pend Oreille County Website. https://pendoreilleco.org/2020-comprehensive-plan-update/ In 2021 the proposed smelter is a zoning issue. The proposed smelter property is not zoned for industrial use. To date, PacWest has not applied – let alone been approved – for the multitude of permits required to conduct such an operation. Nevertheless, we have successfully and repeatedly beaten back PacWest’s efforts to move forward with the smelter.  

The Board of CANSS and the citizens stand ready with our attorney, Norm Semanko, to meet the challenge – anytime, anywhere, you can count on that! We could not have gone this far without your help and remain committed to this battle started over three years ago. Remember, slow and steady wins the race; we’re in this for the long haul.

Stay strong everyone!   No Newport Smelter!!


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Stay Updated on our Legal Efforts 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

Click on the pdf to scroll through the pages ...
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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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Alert!

Pend Oreille County Comprehensive Plan Zoom Meeting
Tuesday, February 16th, 6pm.

For more information, visit the
Pend Oreille County Comprehensive Plan tab above.

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We need your donations more than ever to keep moving forward! Please partner with us to protect our clean air, water, and rural way of life by using one of these convenient ways:

1. GoFundMe Campaign available at https://www.gofundme.com/STOPTHESMELTER
2. Deposit direct into our CANSS account at any Spokane Teachers Credit Union branch.
3. Mail your CANSS check to: PO Box 1347, Newport, WA 99156
4. PayPal below:

Or you can support us by giving a recurring monthly donation:

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Together, we say “No Newport Silicon Smelter” Not here! Not now! Not ever!

Our Mission

Stop Hi Test Sand (now known as PacWest Silicon) from building a proposed smelter in our dense rural residential area.

Our Purpose

Bring public awareness by providing factual information, host public meetings, and maintain a Lawyer to aid in this cause.

Our commitment

CANSS is ready to do everything legally within our means to stop the proposed silicon smelter. Through generous citizen support, we have retained legal counsel taking our cause into the judicial system.

We are happy to work alongside other groups and individuals determined to stop the smelter; each of us being responsible for our own actions, intentions and agenda.

As we stand firm to protect our clean air, water and rural way of life that draws people to this area, CANSS continues to encourage growth not detrimental to the populace or environment.

CANSS is dedicated to serve the citizens in our area. We are the voice of the people!

No Newport Silicon Smelter!

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