Alaska Employment Law

In a Clean Water Act case, where the court will first decide liability, Judge John Sedwick has excluded the testimony of numerous defense witnesses, relying on the defendants’ summary of proposed testimony.  Sedwick ruled that most of the proposed testimony is relevant only in the penalty phase of the litigation. 

Sedwick also held that Alaska DEC officials could not testify on the requirements for a federal CWA permit.

Nancy Sonafrank and Sharmon Stambaugh are employees with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Defendants indicate that Ms. Sonafrank is expected to testify as to “water quality standards, including cyanide standards, aquatic life criteria, and the use of the WAD testing method.”  []  Ms. Stambaugh is expected to testify as “to the compliance and monitoring of Red Dog Mine wastewater discharges from the perspective of the AK Dept. of Environmental Conservation.”  []  Plaintiffs argue that the opinions of state officials on the requirements of a federal permit are not relevant as to liability under the federal Clean Water Act. The court concurs.

(Footnotes omitted.)

Adams v. TeckCominco, 2008 WL 1929979 (D.Alaska May 1, 2008).