Judge rules in favor of Doerle

BATON ROUGE — A state law that applies only to Gordon Doerle and his future landfill expansion in Iberia Parish has been ruled unconstitutional.

Nineteenth Judicial District Judge Michael Caldwell issued a ruling Monday regarding a statute, authored by state Sen. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette, that prohibits landfills from operating within 5,000 feet of an airport in parishes with populations between 70,000 and 75,000 people.

Iberia Parish is the only parish with that population range, making the law specific to Gordon Doerle and Iberia Parish.

“The judge ruled against it because it’s a ridiculous bill that he (Hebert) wrote,” said Doerle. “It’s a sad day when you have to fight to save your business just because somebody in power tried to abuse the position he’s in. But the law is on our side and we knew it from the beginning.”

In a preliminary hearing held in September, Caldwell granted a temporary injunction against the state law until the full case was heard, and said the law was “clearly” a local law, or a state law that only affects one area of the state.

Local laws in the state Legislature are legal, but must be published in a local newspaper 30 days before the bill is introduced. Hebert did not meet the advertising requirements for the bill to be a local law, said Boyd Bryan, Doerle’s lawyer.

Doerle said he spent $100,000 to fight the law in court, and added he was fortunate to have enough money to do so.

“The problem is the individual who doesn’t have the finances to fight something like this would have been out of business,” Doerle said.

Hebert said he could not comment on the case because litigation still might be pending. Constitutionality cases are often appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court for the final decision, Hebert said.

“It’s certainly an important thing in our parish,” Hebert said. “We’ll continue to keep a close eye on it.”

Tammy Arender-Herring, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s Office, said the state’s lawyer, Megan Terrell, cannot comment on the ruling because if the case is appealed, it is still considered an open case. The state has 60 days to appeal Caldwell’s decision.