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San Miguel v Department of Public Works

Type of court
National - higher court
Date
Feb 20, 2008
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Court name
Supreme Court of Guam
Seat of court
Hagåtña
Judge
Carbullido C.J.; Torres; Tydingco-Gatewood A.J.J
Reference number
[2008] GUSC 3
Language
English
Subject
Waste & hazardous substances, Legal questions
Abstract

This case involved a dispute over the exclusion of Guatali and Malaa as potential sites for Guam’s new solid waste landfill.  The defendants include the Department of Public Works ("DPW") and the Guam Environmental Protection Agency ("GEPA"). The plaintiffs, whom are taxpaying citizens, argue that the landfill should be located at either Guatali or Malaa, and not at the Dandan site that has been chosen.  The plaintiff’s sought to restrain the defendants from using the Dandan site as a landfill. They argue that the defendants had acted unreasonably as the defendants relied upon the use of slope of the site as a criterion. However, the court ultimately held that the exclusion of Malaa and Guatali was not an abuse of discretion as the defendants had acted reasonably and considering slope as a criterion was not an abuse of discretion. The appeal was dismissed.

 

(Contribution:  Case provided by Charley Xu from the Queensland University of Technology)

Full text
San Miguel v Department of Public Works_PACLII.pdf
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