By: Matt Scher, matts@977thebolt.com
Dakota City, IA – Arguments were held today on the motion to vacate the Emergency Temporary Injunction by Humboldt County on rock quarry Operator Cole Anderson in Rutland.
Witnesses were called by defense attorney Ernest Kersten for Andersen with Stuart Cochrane, representing Humboldt County with judge Angela Doyle presiding.
Arguments were provided by Anderson’s attorney Kersten on the validity of the county’s argument as the defense alleges that Anderson is not bound by the county ordinance because it was amended in 1999 and recodified in 2015 without an official zoning map that the board of supervisors did not adopt at the time. Kersten would further point out that a failure to produce these maps would mean that the last official map that would go into affect was from 1967, which states Anderson’s quarry was on land that was zoned for mineral extraction.
Additional arguments offered by the defense are questions of whether it was faulty wiring from previous damage that had caused the power outage on July 26 at the same time as the blasting that occurred at Anderson’s quarry in Rutland. That power outage affected 1,500 residents in multiple communities within Humboldt County.
The County through their attorney Cochrane argued that due to Iowa Code, prior to detonation a permit from the County Sheriff must be obtained, which had not been. Kersten through a witness at Olson Explosives testified that due to their licenses through the state, they did not need to obtain a permit in the those other counties.
A decision on the emergency temporary injunction will be rendered in the next few weeks.