A federal judge dismissed this week a company's lawsuit that had charged the city with violating its rights by not permitting construction of a new Pulaski Highway Incinerator.
U.S. District Judge Frederic N. Smalkin said the three-year statute of limitations for filing suit had expired for New Pulaski Co.
"We're grateful that the court dismissed the case," said City Solicitor Otho Thompson. "We hope this is the end of this."
New Pulaski, headed by Willard J. Hackerman, had sought $167 million in damages from the city, Thompson said.
Neither Hackerman nor his attorneys returned telephone calls. The politically well-connected Hackerman also owns Whiting-Turner Construction Co.
For years, the current incinerator had been the focus of complaints from environmentalists and community leaders concerned about pollution emitted by the facility.
Terry Harris, an official of the Sierra Club's Baltimore chapter, said: "We hope that Mr. Hackerman will take all of the money he has been spending on lawyers and spend it on cleaning up the incinerator site and put the land to good use."
Hackerman closed the facility in August 1995 after years of problems in meeting state air-quality standards and later running into roadblocks under the administration of Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke in applying for permits to build a new incinerator.
In 1992, the City Council enacted a five-year moratorium on incinerator construction.
In June 1995, Hackerman sued the city in Circuit Court in Baltimore County, where his company is based, after he failed to persuade officials to lift the moratorium or grant him an exemption.
Hackerman had successfully appealed the city's moratorium in state court.
The General Assembly this year passed legislation that effectively prevents the incinerator from operating again.
Hackerman had three years from the time the city's moratorium was enacted in 1992 to sue, according to Smalkin's decision.
Pub Date: 7/27/97
