by Mindy Aguon

Guam - The Government of Guam's case against Yigo resident and mayoral candidate Joseph Taitano and his wife Rosalind will go to trial in May next year. The couple has moved to have the lawsuit thrown out and claimed they didn't make a single penny off an illegal dump that grew for years at their property in the island's northernmost village.

"We're just doing this ourselves. Can you please serve this?"," asked Joseph Taitano. Judge Arthur Barcinas responded, "Let me tell you - if you're going to do this yourselves, that's fine, but you still need to do it according to the rules of the court." His Honor also said, "I'm not sure what you're holding in your hand but I'm not the one to do the serving."

The Taitanos sat at the defendant's table in the judge's courtroom Friday morning without an attorney defending themselves in a civil lawsuit filed by the government. After being issued his fist notice of violation in 2003 and being issued administrative penalties that have gone nowhere, the Guam Environmental Protection Agency decided to skip issuing another NOV and take the issue straight to court. With hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in government resources to extinguish a deep seeded fire on Taitano's Yigo property, the lawsuit seeks $250,000 in damages and $3.6 million in penalties each.

Assistant Attorney General Kathy Fokas announced, "The plaintiff is also seeking abatement of and damages resulting from public nuisance, negligence, negligence per say, liability, unjust enrichment and punitive damages."

But Taitano doesn't believe he's done anything wrong, stating, "I clean it already, see right there?" Asked if he felt he should be liable for damages, he replied, "No damages, because they give me an order to clean the property. I clean the property according to the order."

Taitano told KUAM News he believes his brother, who lives off-island, allowed R.B. Ann Construction to use the property and alleges it was that company who was making money off illegal dumping that was occurring on his family's property. He was asked if he made a single penny off people dumping trash on your property, to which he said, "No, no, I don't want to do that because in fact I go to the neighbors and pick-up trash and give it to the dumpsite...the one in Dededo." He stated about the Yigo land, "That's not my dumpsite - that belongs to R.B. Ann. That property is not mine, that belongs to R.B. Ann."

He continued, "It's not my business who dumps there because I don't have that property; it's not mine. So I go there and I say, 'Hi', whatever. I see those dump trucks whatever it's not my business. I don't interfere in people's business." KUAM News asked Taitano if he thought it was his business because you paid a half-million dollars to clear it up. He replied, "Yes, because I don't want it there. I don't want it there."

We then asked how come he just didn't tell the people to stop dumping - "I tell them, but they do it. I turn around and go to the Philippines, they just come back and dump it again and again," he said.

Even though he claims the dumping wasn't on his property, Taitano contends he paid more than a half-million dollars to clean it up. "Even my dump, I'm concerned about the safety and health of people. I'm not gonna do something like that," he said.

You may recall four years ago, KUAM News caught Taitano at his property while trucks were dumping trash, with the conversation as follows:

Taitano: I'm Joseph Taitano.
KUAM News: But you don't know what's happening here?
Taitano: What do you think?
KUAM News : It looks like he's dumping.
Joseph: Yeah, that's what it looks like.
Ronna: Do you know what he's dumping?
Joseph: I don't know. You see for yourself.
Ronna: Are you running an illegal dumpsite operation out here?
Joseph: I don't know.

Taitano says he never intended for the site to be an illegal dump, but rather a recycling facility-something he applied for with the Guam EPA 12 years ago but never received approval to build. He blames the lack of approval on an ongoing land dispute over property he claims is his at gun beach that was once owned by the Calvo family. "I'm not going to pinpoint at Calvo or Ysrael...Ysrael is occupying my property in Gun Beach, trying to stay on property as adverse possession," said Taitano.

Taitano has moved to dismiss the lawsuit claiming he was not properly served with certain documents in the case, but until the judge acts on that motion. He said, "I welcome the lawsuit. How many attorneys already, four? Five? They're going to fire that new director again because they cannot prosecute me and then they're going to fire this AG. We're wasting good money. We're wasting money for these two attorney agencies against me a pro se can you imagine that?

"I'll beat all of them because they're not thinking. They're getting paid to sit down and beat me. They don't have the law with them on their side. I love orders. EPA orders me to go and clean it. I clean it. That's what I showed them. That's what they ordered."

When KUAM asked if he was saying that the Guam EPA never came back to inspect to ensure you cleaned it up," he said, "Yes, they never came back."

The court meanwhile has ordered that the trial occur next May with the parties to submit various motions over the course of the next few months.