Posted on Wed, Jun. 15, 2005
EUREKA, Calif. (AP) - A Superior Court judge has tossed out a civil fraud case against Pacific Lumber Co. that alleged the company lied to state negotiators in a deal to create the Headwaters Forest reserve.
In a throwing out the case Tuesday, Judge Richard Freeborn, the second judge to review it, concluded that the 2003 lawsuit filed by Humboldt County prosecutors was based upon a series of "contrived" misconducts.
The judge also ordered Humboldt County to cover Pacific Lumber's legal costs, estimated at more than $150,000.
The suit claimed that Pacific Lumber executives had intentionally understated the threat of landslides in logging areas in order to get permission for high rates of logging on Pacific Lumber's 210,000 acres of southern Humboldt County timberland.
Future logging rates were key elements of a joint $500 million state-federal deal with Pacific Lumber to buy and create the 7,500-acre reserve.
Humboldt County Assistant District Attorney Tim Stoen said his office was reviewing the ruling. He declined further comment.
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