Council settles lawsuit

Iberia Parish Council has decided to settle litigation with Gordon Doerle, permitting him to continue to operate his pickup station and expand his landfill into Iberia Parish.

After an executive session at Wednesday night’s Iberia Parish Council meeting, Assistant District Attorney Eric Duplantis, the council’s legal adviser, announced the parish will settle its lawsuit against Doerle for operating his pickup station without a permit and Doerle’s countersuit against the parish for denying his landfill expansion, under a few conditions:

• Doerle will completely enclose his pickup station, located near the Acadiana Regional Airport, in accordance with guidelines from the state Department of Environmental Quality and the Federal Aviation Administration.

• All trucks exiting the closed pickup station will be covered.

• Smaller trucks entering the facility cannot stay for longer than a certain time, which has not been decided on yet.

• Doerle will be responsible for cleaning and collecting waste water and discharge that is acquired from the transfer of debris from one truck to another.

The parish initially denied Doerle’s pickup station permit because it goes against a solid waste ordinance and regulations from the Acadiana Regional Airport stating that solid waste facilities cannot be located within a certain proximity to the airport.

The parish has the authority to issue a variance, but has denied the variance until now. Under the provisions of the settlement, Doerle will grant the parish servitude, which means if the landfill poses a threat to the airport or if the FAA steps in and objects at any time, Doerle will be forced to remove whatever objections are made or potentially face immediate injunction from the parish.

“It is a mutual agreement, and the DA’s office will work out the rest of the settlement details,” said Council Chairman Bernard Broussard.

Though the parish will issue a permit for Doerle to expand the landfill, DEQ makes final decision for the landfill to operate. The DEQ has stated in past letters that Doerle must be in compliance with the parish to go any further with his permit application.

The council also went into executive session to discuss former Parish President Will Langlinais’ lawsuit against the parish. After the session, Broussard announced the council supports Duplantis in moving forward with the lawsuit.

Langlinais is suing the council over unpaid vacation and sick leave benefits he says he accrued while in office.