Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The lawsuit against Cumberland County supervisors will finally have its day in court. A hearing has been set for next month in the case. Meanwhile, the Green Ridge landfill permit application has been completed and will soon go before the county planning commission. 

First off, let’s explain what this lawsuit is about. The group Cumberland County Landfill Alert (CCLA), identifying itself by its legal name of Love Central Virginia Inc., filed a lawsuit in the fall of 2024, attempting to stop the process before the Green Ridge landfill even makes it to a hearing for a conditional use permit. They want a circuit court judge to issue an injunction, arguing that the previous board of supervisors didn’t have the authority to enter into a contract like the amended host agreement with Green Ridge that they approved in 2019. 

What is the Cumberland Host Agreement? 

In August 2018, the Cumberland board of supervisors voted 3-2 to adopt a community host agreement with Green Ridge Recycling and Disposal. Of the members at that time, then-Chairman Kevin Ingle and District Two Supervisor Lloyd Banks voted in opposition to the motion, with William “Bill” Osl, David Meinhard and Parker Wheeler voting in favor.
The board then voted again, on July 12, 2019, to amend that agreement and insert one key change. In Sect. 3.5(b) in the amended agreement, it says the county has to cooperate with Green Ridge’s efforts to obtain permits, provide data pertaining to the landfill as requested and send them through the regular process for approval or rejection. Basically, if attempts are made to reject the project without allowing the company to go through the regular application process, it violates the agreement the previous Cumberland supervisors willingly signed. And in turn, opens the county up to a lawsuit. 

The CCLA lawsuit argues that the Board of Supervisors didn’t have the authority to enter into a contract that has a clause like the one mentioned above. They say it violates the requirements of the Uniform Statewide Building Code. They also argue that it goes against Cumberland’s own Comprehensive Plan. And so, they want a circuit court judge to revoke the agreement, in theory canceling the landfill project entirely. 

Cumberland attorneys argue first that any legal challenge to the host agreement should have happened when the original was signed in 2018. The same goes for the amended agreement, which was approved in 2019. 

Legal concerns from the county 

It’s that amended host agreement which prevents county officials from tossing out the Green Ridge proposed landfill, saying it’s not wanted. The language in that 2019 amended agreement says “the County will take no action intended to frustrate or prevent Green Ridge from receiving and maintaining a permit, and other local permits and approvals that are consistent with the applicable ordinances and zoning, including any conditional use permits,” the document says. As to what is considered ‘action to frustrate’, that can be open to interpretation. For example, back in 2020, then-Supervisor Ron Tavernier was given a cease and desist letter for simply the way he spoke about the project at meetings. Tavernier in those meetings opposed the landfill, calling for it to be derailed and the permit denied.

Green Ridge’s legal counsel at Woods Rogers took offense to that, stating that “Tavernier’s statements and actions are outrageous and not consistent with paragraph 3.5(b) of the host agreement,” in that July 9, 2020 cease and desist letter.

The letter goes on to say “we all should want to avoid the untold damages that would ensue if Green Ridge’s project failed because the County did not fulfill its obligations under paragraph 3.5(b) of the host agreement.”

The implication right there being pretty clear that legal action could follow if Green Ridge’s project failed due to the county not fulfilling the requirements of the host agreement. That’s why both Cumberland supervisors won’t comment on the landfill and why the county board overall can’t just say ‘thanks, but we’re not interested’.

They could have, back in 2018. But since the host agreement was voted on and signed, this current board is legally bound to follow what their predecessors agreed to.

Setting a date and time for Cumberland lawsuit

So why did it take nearly five months to get a hearing in this case? First, they needed to get a judge. Back in October, Chief Judge Donald Blessing of the Tenth Judicial Circuit Court ruled that it was improper for any local judges of the Tenth Circuit to hear this case. As a result, he filed a request to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, to name a special judge to oversee the case. That happened in December, with retired judge Melvin R. Hughes agreeing to hear arguments. 

So what do we know about Judge Melvin R. Hughes? He retired from the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond with more than 33 years of judicial experience. First he served as a Judge of the General District Court, before joining the Circuit Bench in 1984. He was a founding member of the Richmond law firm of Chambliss, Cunningham, Hughes and Macbeth, before being appointed to the Committee on Virginia Model Jury Instructions, which updates jury instructions as new cases are decided each year. He is also the former president of the Old Dominion Bar Association’s Richmond chapter and a former board member of the Neighborhood Legal Aid Society. 

Hughes has set a date of Thursday, Feb. 6 at 10 a.m. to hear the case in Cumberland Circuit Court. 

Application is finished 

So what happens to the Green Ridge project while this is being fought over? It still moves forward. 

In order for the proposed Cumberland landfill to be either rejected or approved, first it has to go through the full conditional use process. Green Ridge Virginia, part of GFL (Green for Life) Environmental, has to apply for a permit with Cumberland, requesting permission to move forward with the landfill. The company has taken the first step in that process, as county staff acknowledged in September that the permit has been filed. As of December 31, that application was deemed to be complete. 

Unless the injunction is granted by Hughes on Feb. 6, the Green Ridge application will likely be introduced to the county planning commission in their February meeting. The commission will hear the request and hold a public hearing, then decide if they recommend it or not to supervisors. This will likely be done over the span of at least two meetings. Then it would go to supervisors, where another public hearing would be held. Afterward, the board could make a decision.