ORDERS:
ORDER OF DISMISSAL WITHOUT PREJUDICE
This matter is before me upon two separate petitions for an order holding Respondent James Leland (Leland) in contempt of
an order dated December 30, 1998 Order in Leland v. South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control,
Bureau of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, 98-ALJ-07-0549-CC. The Order imposed a $500 fine, payable to
the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Bureau of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management
(OCRM) and required Leland to update his Operations and Maintenance Manual to include provisions assuring compliance
with special condition 1 of permit number CC-92-054. Counsel for Petitioner, Blanche Oswald, filed a letter on April 9,
1999 requesting a Rule to Show Cause as to why Leland should not be held in contempt of the December 30, 1998 Order.
Counsel's letter alleged that Leland had neither updated his Operations and Maintenance Manual nor paid the $500 fine.
Likewise, OCRM filed a Petition for Contempt on September 17, 1999, indicating that Leland had failed to pay the $500
fine.
Leland's attorney, James L. Mann, II, responded to Oswald's petition for contempt by filing a letter dated April 12, 1999, in
which he stated that he never received a copy of the December 30, 1998 Order. Upon receiving a later copy of the Order,
Leland appealed the Order to OCRM's appellate panel on May 17, 1999. After learning of the appeal, OCRM filed a letter
dated October 21, 1999, asking that I disregard OCRM's Petition for Contempt be disregarded.
Because OCRM has voluntarily withdrawn its Petition for Contempt, it is appropriate to dismiss OCRM's Petition without
prejudice to OCRM's right to bring a similar petition in the future. I further find that it is appropriate to dismiss, without
prejudice, Oswald's petition since the information provided by Leland's attorney indicates that Leland had not yet received
the December 30, 1998 Order as of the date of Oswald's petition. In light of this information, I find that it would be
premature to issue a Rule to Show Cause, conduct a hearing, or to make any ruling on Oswald's petition.
Based on the foregoing, the petitions of OCRM and Oswald are hereby dismissed without prejudice.
AND IT IS SO ORDERED.
______________________________
RAY N. STEVENS
Administrative Law Judge
Dated: December 1, 1999
Columbia, South Carolina |
