Sanctions sought against firm that proposed a $1.1B plastics recycling facility in Pa.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A Lancaster engineering consulting firm wants sanctions imposed on the Texas developer that in 2024 scrapped plans for a $1.1 billion plastics recycling facility in Northumberland County.

Rettew Associates claims in a U.S. Middle District Court filing Wednesday there is “no question” counsel for Encina Development Group extended legal proceedings “without any reasonable or good faith basis on which to do so.”

The legal proceedings were Rettew’s suit to force the Springs, Texas, company to pay four invoices submitted in 2023 that totaled more than $225,000.

Encina claimed Rettew’s services were so inadequately performed it would be unreasonable to expect further payment.

Its counterclaims included the allegation Rettew failed to provide a timeline for permits for the project and failed to identify stormwater management concerns that impacted its timeline.

Encina claimed Rettew significantly contributed to the decision to cancel the project and that its services were so inadequately performed it would be unreasonable to expect further payment.

The parties resolved the dispute in January through a consent judgment with Rettew receiving $492,000.

The motion for sanctions focuses on the work of Encina’s lead counsel, John Richardson of the Pittsburgh law firm of Bernstein-Burkley.

The “unacceptable behavior” of Encina’s counsel Rettew claims included:

Filing meritless defenses and counterclaims that were never going to be pursued.

Forcing it twice to seek court’s intervention in discovery for no plausible reason other than for delay and to drive up Rettew’s costs.

Rettew calls Encina’s computation of its loss as the result of the Lancaster firm’s work a mirage.

It cited the initial disclosure signed by Richardson that stated Encina lost over $6.6 million and that was a factor in the abandonment of the project.

Discovery established the $6.6 million figure is comprised exclusively of imaginary consequential damages that agreements unequivocally preclude Encina from recovering, Rettew claims.

It contends Encina’s answers to its suit were frivolous, counterclaims drafted by Bernstein-Burkley relied on false assertions and deposition witnesses were unqualified.

The misconduct by Encina’s counsel extended the proceedings without justification and it drastically inflated its costs by causing a full-blown discovery, Rettew claims.

Encina’s counsel has admitted the motive was to obfuscate and camouflage Encina’s true financial condition by delaying Rettew from obtaining a judgment in a “shameless effort to lure unsuspecting investors into Encina’s web,” the filing alleges.

Had there not been frivolous defenses and counterclaims, Rettew says it could have moved for summary judgment after Encina admitted in discovery it failed to pay or dispute the invoices.

Rettew asks U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann to schedule a hearing to consider its motion and what sanctions should be imposed.

The Point Township Circular Manufacturing Facility was expected to create 300 jobs with an average annual salary of $75,000, according to the company.

The facility was to use proven technologies to convert 450,000 tons of recycled plastic materials annually into feedstock for new materials.

The project met opposition from the Save Our Susquehanna citizens group that voiced concerns about potential health and environmental impacts. Northumberland Borough Council went on record opposing it.

In April 2024 through a news release Encina announced it had scrapped plans for the project and would be pursuing projects then under review or development in the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Southeast Asia.

Late last month Gov. Josh Shapiro announced a $5.7 grant to Driving Real Innovation for a Vibrant Economy (DRIVE) to make more attractive to light industry and business the 101-acre site along Route 11 it owns.

The project will include filling in the part that is in the Susquehanna River flood plain, flattening the rest and constructing a water tank to connect wells Encina drilled.

 Courtesy: www.pennlive.com