Details of the settlement of a lawsuit between the town of Rhinelander, Wis., and General Casualty Insurance Cos. over cleanup of a former city landfill were released Friday after an open records lawsuit.
The Sun Prairie, Wis.-based insurer paid $865,000 in the settlement reached in February. The Rhinelander Daily News newspaper and WXPR Radio in Rhinelander requested details of the settlement last spring, but city attorney Philip Parkinson refused to released them.
Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager eventually argued in a lawsuit filed in Oneida County Circuit Court that the settlement was a public record and should be released. The suit contended taxpayers have a right to know how the city spends their money.
Rhinelander’s Finance Committee voted Thursday night to release the document after General Casualty agreed to release the city from the confidentiality provisions of the agreement. It was then released Friday.
The city operated the landfill from 1939 to 1979, and closed it in accordance with state regulations which existed at the time. The city has spent in excess of $2 million to clean up the site, hiring consultants to design a cleanup plan which involves planting trees to soak up groundwater and reduce runoff.
The suit between the city and General Casualty was over the coverage provided to the city by General Casualty.
“What is right according to our Constitution and the protected ideals of the First Amendment that are guaranteed to us by the Freedom of Information Act has been served here,” Daily News president and publisher Jay Anderle said of the release of the information.
“This will set a precedent and offer help to other Wisconsin communities dealing with similar situations,” he added. State attorneys sued the city in 1995 alleging environmental violations, Parkinson has said. The state lawsuit is still pending and a neighbor of the landfill has also filed suit, saying the landfill hurts his property value, Parkinson said.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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